Enterprise open source Toolkit

Story: Microsoft exec talks patent politics

• 
• 

That

Quoting:
"It depends where you come from on intellectual property really. As someone who is also a writer, I'm always quite intrigued by the idea that, if I write something, I shouldn't have some sort of rights over what I've produced, and that other people can go off and make money off the back of my creative work. I'm not entirely sure what people are asking — that Microsoft shouldn't protect its intellectual property?"

Isn't that precisely the point. When writing one touches on many ideas, but wouldn't consider patenting those ideas. When we write our work is protected by copyright law. Can you imagine what would have happened if the great philosophers, scientists, musicians, artists and writers had patented their ideas so that nobody else could use them without paying. We today wouldn't be able to have a conversation without violating somebodies intellectual property. The arguement of the free software community is that software should be treated in the same manner, copyrightable but not patentable. I for one believe this to be a much more realistic approach.

• 
• 

• 
• 
• 

Full Talkback thread