Re: the practical difference that patents make

[Josh Triplett <josh.trip@verizon.net>]

Matthew Garrett wrote:
> Branden Robinson <branden@debian.org> wrote:
>>That things get particularly weird with the copyright regime when patents
>>are held to affect the same works as copyrights is an indictment of the
>>practice of both patenting and copyrighting software, not an indictment of
>>our license analysis practices.
> 
> I entirely agree that there's a strong philosophical distinction between
> patents and termination clauses. Further, I'd agree that the existence
> of termination clauses should be enough to make us question upstream's
> motives. But in today's world, the practical difference is small. I
> guess the real question is "Should we be concerned about philosophical
> freedomes or the practical outcomes of them?"

Yes.  :)

I think we should consider both "philosophical" freedoms *and* their
practical outcomes.

- Josh Triplett

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