[79297] in Cypherpunks
Software patents
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Lucky Green)
Wed Apr 30 03:39:42 1997
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 23:41:28 -0700
To: Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>, cypherpunks@toad.com
From: Lucky Green <shamrock@netcom.com>
Reply-To: Lucky Green <shamrock@netcom.com>
At 07:30 PM 4/29/97 -0400, Robert Hettinga wrote:
>Anyway, getting back to the point, "avoiding unpleasantness" also means not
>having patent lawyers sue those very essential "hoity-toity" trustee banks
>for rediculous reasons, like patent infringement, actual or not.
There is a simple way to prevent patent lawyers from suing you for supposed
patent infringement. Distribute your software from a jurisdiction in which
software patents do not exist. South Africa is one of many such jurisdictions.
Anecdote: at a conference, I asked a patent attorney what strategy to
follow if your patented technology is only happening in the client
software. He looked at me like I was drooling on myself and said: "Uhm...
Well... Then you have a problem."
IANAL, but I suppose the best strategy for the owners of a shaky software
patent would be to make people believe that their technology is patented in
many more jurisdictions than it actually is.
Have fun,
-- Lucky Green <mailto:shamrock@netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred
"I do believe that where there is a choice only between cowardice and
violence, I would advise violence." Mahatma Gandhi
