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Rackspace accused of patent infringement for hosting Github

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Re: Rackspace accused of patent infringement for hosting Github

#111

Post by davidw »

luriel wrote: post #67
defen wrote: post #58

I can't view the link because it's expired, so I'll just post my rant here. The entire point of patents, as delineated in the U.S. Constitution, is "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." So patents are a means , of securing an end , which is "the progress of science and useful arts".…

> Is anyone actually arguing at this point that our current patent regime is accomplishing this end? All through history patents have always hindered innovation and progress, and there is plenty of research to back this up: http://levine.sscnet.ucla.edu/general/intellectual/against.h... I think it should be obvious by now for anyone that we are well past the point where the system is fixable, the only solution is to…

Here's the Amazon link, just for fun:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001E9731A/?tag=dedasys-20

The author - or one of them, at least - Michele Boldrin is a very bright guy, who also does a lot of writing in Italian here:

http://noisefromamerika.org/

And has a hand in starting a political movement in Italy, here:

http://fermareildeclino.it/

He also happens to be from Padova, my home away from home in Italy, although I've never had the occasion to meet him, as he lives and works in the US.

Worth noting though, that the book itself does not appear to be available under a free license...

Re: Rackspace accused of patent infringement for hosting Github

#112

Post by luriel »

snowwrestler wrote: post #80
defen wrote: post #58

I can't view the link because it's expired, so I'll just post my rant here. The entire point of patents, as delineated in the U.S. Constitution, is "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." So patents are a means , of securing an end , which is "the progress of science and useful arts".…

Patents cover areas of technology where developing a solution that can be commercialized at scale is much, much more expensive than software. Without patents, how is a pharma company expected to pay the enormous cost of research, development, and FDA approval of new drugs? Let's not let obvious flaws in software IP protection condemn the concept of patents in general.

Most pharma research is already done by universities and other government subsidized organizations.

Most of the drug development costs come from the byzantine approval and regulatory process.

And for the government to pay for it by going around granting monopolies to private institutions is a very inefficient and plain insidious way of doing things, as can be seen with how new drugs are just old drugs with the smallest possible change to grant a new patent which come out exactly when the old patent expires, and many other ways big pharma exploits the system to create a oligopoly.

And this is not any grand conspiracy, is the natural result of regulatory capture and the incentives created by the patent system.

Re: Rackspace accused of patent infringement for hosting Github

#113

Post by saraid216 »

ortusdux wrote: post #81
maratd wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice sentiment. I share it. It's also a waste of breath. > trolls, oligopolies and lawyers Every member of that group is well funded, highly connected, and very aggressive. They are ready to devote untold resources to crush your sentiment and should that fail, to redirect your reform efforts into a more palatable outcome. Every piece of legislation is a compromise between competing interests and their competing inter…

Step one: variable patent lengths.

On what basis would the length be determined?

Re: Rackspace accused of patent infringement for hosting Github

#114

Post by batista »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #100
betterth wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

BS. Patent trolls have been around for a very long time, and companies like IBM represent the lionshare of patent applications. Apple themselves files one of the lowest numbers of offensive patent lawsuits -- it's just a confirmation bias mixed with the massive publicity that Apple gets. Just because you hear about EVERY one of Apple's lawsuits doesn't mean that Apple is "paving the way"! I hate the knee-jerk "blame…

I hate the knee-jerk "blame Apple" nonsense that is so pervasive! What is Apple doing that is so groundbreaking to patents? You know, I've looked all through the Constitution, and while there's some stuff about promoting the progress of science and the useful arts, I don't see anything about starting thermonuclear wars against competitors. Can you help me out?

>I don't see anything about starting thermonuclear wars against competitors. Can you help me out?

Do you see anything about pots calling the kettle black?

Re: Rackspace accused of patent infringement for hosting Github

#115

Post by noonespecial »

11. Venue is proper in the Eastern District of Texas under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1391 and1400(b). PersonalWeb is a limited liability company incorporated in Smith County, Texaswith its principal place of business in Tyler, Texas. A substantial part of the events giving riseto the asserted claims occurred in this judicial district, Defendant transact business in this judicial district, and the patents were infringed in this judicial district

I think maybe its time for all technology companies everywhere to boycott a certain district in East Texas. Don't ship there. Geolock all services so they aren't useable there. Hell, if Hulu can keep the Canadians out, this should be easy.

If nothing else, it would send a message to the people living in that area that their local courts have been hijacked to do some very unfortunate things. It would send a pretty good message to other jurisdictions as well : "make a national nuisance of yourself, lose your interwebs."

Want to stay out of patent court? Don't mess with Texas.

Re: Rackspace accused of patent infringement for hosting Github

#116

Post by rademi »

skymt wrote: post #12

The patents in question: http://www.google.com/patents/US5978791 http://www.google.com/patents/US6415280 http://www.google.com/patents/US6928442 http://www.google.com/patents/US7802310 http://www.google.com/patents/US7945539 http://www.google.com/patents/US7945544 http://www.google.com/patents/US7949662 http://www.google.com/patents/US8001096 http://www.google.com/patents/US8099420

None of these patents were original at the time they were adopted -- they all have obvious prior art.

Someone should take away Level 3's patent card. And PersonalWeb really ought to be liable for abuse of process.

Re: Rackspace accused of patent infringement for hosting Github

#118

Post by batista »

snowwrestler wrote: post #80
defen wrote: post #58

I can't view the link because it's expired, so I'll just post my rant here. The entire point of patents, as delineated in the U.S. Constitution, is "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." So patents are a means , of securing an end , which is "the progress of science and useful arts".…

Patents cover areas of technology where developing a solution that can be commercialized at scale is much, much more expensive than software. Without patents, how is a pharma company expected to pay the enormous cost of research, development, and FDA approval of new drugs? Let's not let obvious flaws in software IP protection condemn the concept of patents in general.

>Without patents, how is a pharma company expected to pay the enormous cost of research, development, and FDA approval of new drugs?

How about taxes? Drugs that are useful for millions of people can be subsidized --internationally even.

It will make the system even less commercialized (i.e prone to go for quick bucks and BS drugs instead of proper medicine).

Most of the more expensive drugs are of marginal utility anyway. Basic sanitation, running water, staple vaccination and such have much more to do with the general health and long living than even much touted breakthroughs like "heart surgery".

Not to mention that billions have been spent for BS like Viagra and ADD (non)drugs, while 60% of the world's population doesn't even have basic food and vaccines.

Re: Rackspace accused of patent infringement for hosting Github

#119

Post by saraid216 »

debacle wrote: post #45
jpkeisala wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is it really possible that there are companies that just holds patents and are allowed to sue others who does things. No shame. What a world we are living at... This seems to be company who is suing Github and Rackspace. http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/sn...

I think it's perfectly legitimate for a company to just hold patents and sue others based on those patents (or, more likely, license them). That's a core aspect of the patent system. The problem here isn't patent protections. It's bad patents. We're still going to see submarine patents for the next ~16 years, and I'm sure patent trolls will exist beyond that (unless there is reform), but the patent system isn't the p…

> I think it's perfectly legitimate for a company to just hold patents and sue others based on those patents (or, more likely, license them). That's a core aspect of the patent system.

I could understand "inevitable consequence", but I can't see where you get "core aspect". Explain?

Re: Rackspace accused of patent infringement for hosting Github

#120

Post by shreyansj »

lutze wrote: post #86
shreyansj wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps someone should file a patent for assigning values to a variable!

You think someone hasn't done this already?

If someone had done it, that someone would be pretty damn rich right now!
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