by Many have expressed their concern on the threat that software patents pose
to the free software community. The combination of corporate avarice and a
lack of technical acumen at the US patent office is creating a situation
where free software developers are almost certain to violate some patents,
like it or not. That this has not yet resulted in legal action against
Linux I believe is more a testament to a lack of perceived threat on the
part of major patent holders (like MS) than an indication that such legal
actions will not be forthcoming. As Linux continues to gain popularity and
visibility in the press, this 'honeymoon' period may be coming to an end.
What can be done to counter this threat?
I believe this is a situation that calls for community action. Furthermore,
I think that the current legal environment leaves the community no choice,
but to fight fire with fire -- intellectual properties must be liberated
under the current law, as the political will to change Title 35 will almost
certainly be lacking, given the wealth of the proprietary sw. lobby. By
building a portfolio of liberated intellectual properties, the free
software community can obtain the same legal protections for open source
developers that is now enjoyed by proprietary code. Such liberation can be
pursued by the following means:
1. Documentation of prior art in a suitable database (under Linux and a free
RDBMS, of course), made available over the Internet. Such information could
then be used, not only as a defense against invalid patents, but hopefully
as a mechanism to help educate the USPTO, so that they will issue fewer
invalid patents to begin with.
2. Recruitment of distinguished software luminaries to act as spokespersons,
and to assist in filing friend of the court briefs for patent cases in
litigation. This approach would be similar to the one outlined in the FSF
materials.
3. Obtaining defensive patents on key algorithms. Such patents would be
held in trust, perhaps by GNU (if they desire it), or otherwise by LIPO, for
the express purpose of keeping them free to all who wish to use them. In
some cases, it may be possible to persuade current patent holders to assign
their patents, if they only obtained them to prevent others from
monopolizing the technology. In other cases, it may be necessary to obtain
new patents. (This is the "fire with fire" part.)
4. Waging an ongoing information campaign to inform the public of the
dangers inherent in software patents and the negative effect such
instruments may have on the free software community.
If there is enough of a positive response, I will attempt to obtain seed
money and resources to help found the organization. However, this idea can
only work if the free software community thinks it is the right thing to do
and is behind it. Also, if there are other individuals that the community
feels would be better suited to spearhead such an effort, I would be glad to
serve as merely a soldier, and someone who might be able to obtain some
initial resources. Your choice.
Comments?
Bill House