Software Patents - good or evil?
The New York Times published an opinion piece by Timothy B. Lee yesterday that compares the current patent conflict between Vonage and Verizon to the software patent landscape of the early 1990's. Back then, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates published a memo to Microsoft's senior management extolling the evils of software patents, claiming that they could lead to a complete stall in technological advancement. Of course, today Microsoft owns a massive number of patents, and actively uses them to protect their position in the market. And the Vonage / Verizon patent dispute is a shining example of how patents can be used to attempt to kill technological advancement.
So, here's your chance to sound off and spout your opinion. We want to know if the ability to acquire a patent for a software process is good, or evil. For the purposes of this discussion, "good" is defined as supporting technological advancement, whereas "evil" refers to technological stagnation. As much as the example given here clearly shows a bias, there are probably good arguments from both sides of this debate; let's hear them.
