🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <8061@vela.acs.oakland.edu> schemers@vela.acs.oakland.edu (Roland Schemers III) writes:
>>rms@gnu.ai.mit.edu (Richard Stallman) writes:
>>> US patent number 4,956,809 covers using a single standard byte
>>> ordering for transfer of data between machines whose normal byte
>>> ordering is different.
>>[...]
>
>Thats like patenting adding 1 to a number to increment it. Next thing you
>know we will have to do the following:
>
>x := x + 2 -1
>
>In order to increment something. How can something this black and white
>be patentable? I thought patents were supposed to be a 'novel' idea
>that is not obvious. You could take the problem of byte swapping to a
>1st grade class and they could probably solve it.
>
>Roland
>-- 
>Roland J. Schemers III                              Systems/Network Manager
>schemers@vela.acs.oakland.edu (Ultrix)              Oakland University 
>schemers@argo.acs.oakland.edu (VMS)                 Rochester, MI 48309-4401
>OU in Michigan! Say it slow: M-i-c-h-i-g-a-n        (313)-370-4323



Roland,
  You hit the nail on the head!!!!!  THIS IS THE PROBLEM WITH SOFTWARE
PATENTS!!! Most software patents deal with algorithms that are
stupidly obvious to anyone in the software field, but *seem* unique
to the patent office since they don't have the knowledge of the
field. Since they *seem* unique and unobvious, and of course there
would be *no* mention of this "unique" technique in the literature
then it must be a valid invention and therefore patentable! Its
CRAZY, but its true!! This is one way companies like IBM can control
the computer field, they *own* about 9,000 of theses patents, and most
smaller companies can't afford to go to court to challenge the
patents, and they can't afford to pay the licensing fee...so they
spend time re-inventing the wheel...but, according to the idea of
patents, this promotes research and development and inovation...yeah,
it does promote inovation, to see how many different ways you can
increment a number by one...


John
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| John Burton                                                        |
| G & A Technical Software                                           |
| jcburt@gatsibm.larc.nasa.gov                                       |
| burton@asdsun.larc.nasa.gov                                        |
| jcburt@cs.wm.edu                                                   |
|                                                                    |
| Disclaimer: Hey, what can I say...These are *my* views, not those  |
|             of anyone else, be they employer, school, or government|
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