From: Charles Hixson <charleshixsn@...>
Date: 2002-03-09T02:20:03+09:00
Subject: Re: Intentional Programming

John wrote:
> ..
> I agree with you on patents.  I know why they did it but all it does is
> restrict progress in the field.  I am not sure what it covers as I have not
> read them yet.  There are links to them on my website.
> 
....
Actually, it's a much worse situation than just the listed patents 
indicate.  They don't say anything about the patents that they have 
applied for, but which are still in process.  And the G.D. patent office 
is so *** that they would probably allow you to patent "A method for 
combining the values from two addresses in computer memory to give a 
logically determined value, possibly determined by either a half-adder 
or a stocastic process, and possibly exogenously determined."  They 
wouldn't understand it, so they'd just grant it.  Anyone with a good 
lawyer and a lot of money could successfully challenge it, of course, so 
they wouldn't enforce it against them.

This isn't just "a religous issue".  This is cutting to the bone of 
people without a lot of money being allowed to develop anything!  It's 
getting to the point where the only way to release something is either 
to live in a country without software patents, or to release it anonymously.