Thursday, May 31, 2012

Open Sourced Revolution


On May 31, 2012, at 5:13 PM, EB wrote:
Hi John,

So if you open source a product you can infringe on patents and not get sued? I understand open source as an innovation basis, but why did you choose it as a legal platform? How would it help prevent you from being sued by patent trolls?

***It won’t, anyone can sue anyone for anything...  but assuming once you have a legitimate patent, and you open source it, then you are somewhat protected.  But you noticed an important feature of the US IPR laws, in that the IPR bring chaos to a system that was once settled and peaceful.  Law is supposed to bring order, but IPR does the opposite.  Patent trolls like Nathan Myhrvold, Microsoft Billionaire make billions more, and employ armies of attorneys, to exploit the weaknesses of the system.  People like Myhrvold greenmail profitable firms.  In the case of an open sourced IPR, at whom would Myhrvold and his minions aim? ***


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