Re: [News] Patents Hurt Education

[Jamie Hart <usenet@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

BearItAll wrote:
> Mark Kent wrote:
>
> > begin  oe_protect.scr
> > Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
> > > Software patent ignites firestorm in higher education
> > >
> > > ,----[ Quote ]
> > > | A firestorm of controversy is spreading in the education
> > > | community over attempts by key software vendor Blackboard
> > > | to enforce its patent claims.
> > > `----
> > >
> > > http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php?id=96811954&rid=-50
> > >
> > > Blackboard has relationships with Microsoft. They target popular Open
> > > Source software like Moodle.
> > Well, the Austrialians were bullied by the US government into accepting
> > software patents, so they probably have no choice now but to allow US
> > companies to come in and take the tax dollars they had set aside for
> > educating their children, and give them to a foreign (US) company
> > instead.  After all, that's what patents are for.
>
> Not only that but they have to give up any claim for any software that was
> written in their own country but people assumed was just a set of functions
> that anyone could use or learn from because they are public knowledge. The
> EU seems to be the only country that sees this patent nonesense as
> stealing.
>
> It bugs me that countries are letting america claim items that do not belong
> to it.

I suspect that some countries are more than aware of what is going on 
with software patents, and are implementing them in order to "get 
theirs" before America claims them all.

If a country follows Americas lead and upholds American Patents, America 
will uphold theirs, so lot's of money can be made by people in those 
countries.

Erm... I'm not sure If I explained that very clearly, but what the hell, 
if no one knows what I'm on about then they can't argue with me.