OT - Ecommerce Patent

[Jason Greenwood]

http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/NL/DA2099EE2B07C993CC256DC8002A0D93

This is getting TOTALLY out of hand! How can NZ continue allowing 
ridiculous patents that patent IDEAS that are so intangible as to be 
unenforceable? I mean, pyisical objects fine but do we want to get to a 
stage where we can DO nothing online without paying a patent holder for 
a concept that is blatantly obvious to all but the moronic? How do we 
stop this? In all these stories, I read about "a period for public 
comment." How and where is this comment supposed to happen? They sure as 
hell do not list a website for it in any of these articles. IDC NZ is 
particularly bad for that - mentioning a website but not giving a URL or 
link to it...

Ideas people? This may not be so off topic afterall. We need OPEN 
Internet standards, not patents all over the show.