Messages in this thread | | | Date | Tue, 29 Apr 2003 12:41:39 -0400 | From | Scott Robert Ladd <> | Subject | Re: Why DRM exists [was Re: Flame Linus to a crisp!] |
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Theodore Ts'o wrote: > Well, there is the question about whether Microsoft would really want > a law which made it illegal to duplicate the (unpatented) design of a > competitor's product, given that Microsoft does that *all* the time.
The law is not applied equally, however. Microsoft has the resources to fight any action taken against it; thus, a law that restricts you (with your limited resources) may not hinder Microsoft at all.
> In the business world, engineers purchase competitors' products and > rip them apart to see what makes them tick *all* *the* *time*. Ford > does it GM cars, and Crystler does it to Toyota cars, etc., etc. > Anything important where they don't want that to happen is patented.
Precisely. I've done this myself with various pieces of technology.
The problem is a broken patent system that allows common knowledge to be "protected." I've strongly considered trying to get a patent on B-trees or QuickSort, just to see if the patent office is as foolish as they seem. The reason I can tear down the engine on my truck is because it poses no threat to the manufacturer; no one has a patent on the concept of a piston (though they may patent a specific *type* of piston.)
The problem today is that the patent office will honor almost anything with a patent; if cars were software, Ford would have a patent on pistons that would prevent GM from building V-8s.
There is nothing wrong with the original conception of patents and copyrights: the protection of IP creators to profit from their work before it enters the public domain in a reasonable time period. Sadly, corporations have legal rights, and the money to pervert the process. Patents and copyrights need to be fixed, not destroyed.
..Scott
-- Scott Robert Ladd Coyote Gulch Productions (http://www.coyotegulch.com)
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