On Mar 5, 2011, at 10:04 AM, Cédric Beust ♔ wrote:

> 
> 
> 2011/3/5 Reinier Zwitserloot <[email protected]>
> The US natural level of software innovation is X. Due to patents, it is 
> modified to Y. Is Y larger? Smaller? About the same?
> 
> You claim it appears high, and then conclude this means Y can't be 
> significantly smaller. This makes no logical sense.
> 
> Not exactly. The fact that Y is currently high (higher than any other country 
> in the world) shows that the system is not as broken as people who want to 
> abolish all software patents claim. Therefore, the burden of proof that X is 
> higher is on them.

Since you want proof for others statements can you please provide proof of your 
"fact" that Y is higher than any other country in the world?  I'm not even sure 
how to quantify that let alone calculate it.  

> 
> By the way, the Zuckerberg story shows what would happen in a world without 
> software patents, since none were filed. If you believe the story as it's 
> being told today, Zuckerberg was able to "steal" (or reuse) the original idea 
> without any legal worries, thereby forcing the original authors to have to 
> sue him in order to claim what's theirs. This seems backward to me, but 
> that's basically what the absence of software patents will lead to.

They sued him over a business agreement, did they not? Patenting an idea for a 
business is questionable even under the current patent system, especially after 
Bilski.

> 
> The Google / Oracle lawsuits prove that either non-novel patents hold up in 
> court
> 
> There hasn't been any appearance in court yet! That was my point, we just 
> don't know where this is headed, so we can't use this case as a sign that 
> software patents are broken or that they work.

I think the point being made is that most software engineers can tell when a 
patent is a bunch of hooey.  But just because we know it is junk doesn't mean a 
judge and jury will.

> 
> Let's discuss this once a verdict is rendered, or a settlement is reached. 
> This might be a few years in the future, but we will probably have learned a 
> lot in the meantime.

Yeah - that the current patent system sucks and software patents are a bad 
idea. Oh yeah, most of us already know that.

Ralph

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