Patents and Linux

[David Cartwright]

Chadley Wilson wrote:

>On Mon, 2004-05-17 at 09:54, WipeOut wrote:
>
>  
>
>><rant>
>>This is one area where IBM, Novell, HP, Redhat and many of the other big 
>>players in the Linux and Open Source world seem to have been very quiet!!
>>
>>Obviously they would all be happy if the patents came in because they 
>>would stand to gain finacially from it as they have the money to also go 
>>on a patent spree.. It really only the little guys who will be shut down 
>>while the "Evil Empires" continue to monopolise the world..
>>
>>All this thanks to a bunch of computer illiterate retards in 
>>government's around the world who listen to the monopolistic 
>>corporations when making decisions about technology who are only out to 
>>capatalise on their position for their own gain.. Just because those 
>>corporations have the biggest market share doesn't mean they are the 
>>best people to ask for advise..
>>
>>So much for demoracy, freedom and equal oppertunity.. All these things 
>>are steadily being regulated away from the people and the political 
>>leaders are becoming more and more like dictators..
>>
>>Welcome to a world where "Big Brother" is active in everyday life, not 
>>just on a TV show..
>></rant>
>>    
>>
>we should rebel, what are they going to do throw the whole open source
>community in jail?
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No, they don't have to. They pick someone to make an example of, crucify 
him legally, wait for the faint of heart to conform, then pick another 
to crucify, legally. All you need is money and the will. Who is going to 
pick up the cause; open source is not exactly a high profile political 
issue to arouse the masses and motivate politicians.........unless you 
can manage to persuade 60 Minutes to do a segment for the cause. Need an 
example...consider "free music".