When Mr. Gates started hyping his solution to the problem of spam, I suspected this was a plan to use patents to grab control of the Net. Sure enough, in 2004 Microsoft asked the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) to approve a mail protocol that Microsoft was trying to patent. The licence policy for the protocol was designed to forbid free software entirely. No program supporting this mail protocol could be released as free software -- not under the GNU GPL (General Public License), or the MPL (Mozilla Public License), or the Apache licence, or either of the BSD licences, or any other.
The IETF rejected Microsoft's protocol, but Microsoft said it would try to convince major ISPs to use it anyway. Thanks to Mr. Gates, we now know that an open Internet with protocols anyone can implement is communism; it was set up by that famous communist agent, the US Department of Defense.
With Microsoft's market clout, it can impose its choice of programming system as a de facto standard. Microsoft has already patented some .Net implementation methods, raising the concern that millions of users have been shifted to a government-issue Microsoft monopoly.
But capitalism means monopoly; at least, Gates-style capitalism does. People who think that everyone should be free to program, free to write complex software, they are communists, says Mr. Gates. But these communists have infiltrated even the Microsoft boardroom. Here's what Bill Gates told Microsoft employees in 1991:
"If people had understood how patents would be granted when most of today's ideas were invented and had taken out patents, the industry would be at a complete standstill today... A future start-up with no patents of its own will be forced to pay whatever price the giants choose to impose."
Mr. Gates' secret is out now -- he too was a "communist"; he, too, recognised that software patents were harmful -- until Microsoft became one of these giants. Now Microsoft aims to use software patents to impose whatever price it chooses on you and me. And if we object, Mr. Gates will call us "communists".
If you're not afraid of name-calling, visit ffii.org (the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure), and join the fight against software patents in Europe. We persuaded the European Parliament once -- even right-wing MEPs are "communists", it seems -- and with your help we will do it again.
Talkback
Well worded article.
Gives food for thought.
You are absolutely right, by lumping the issue of software patents in to the whole genre of Intellectual property, he manages to create a large smoke screen, and for the public who are not aware of the different rights that IP gnenerates this in turn creates confusion. On the other hand Mr gates has in the recent past termed all innovative legal thinkers in to COMMUNIST, from Creative Commons advocates, (alternative cpoyright protection) to Software patens discussion. It is interesting to note that some of these new age communist have taken place at Mr.Lessig blog page, please refer to the link below
http://www.lessig.org/blog/
"just when I learned not to be surprised, I'm surprised"
Vicknaraj Thanarajah, are you a former high school klang alumni ?
if so, look me up.
Srighanthan.v pillai
thanks.