Bruce Perens talks to BBC

[Antonio Rodriguez <arodriguez31@cfl.rr.com>]

Quote from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3422853.stm

You have to consider engineers today spend their entire careers
combining other people's intellectual property. And every small and
medium sized enterprise is at risk regarding software patenting. That is
a problem in Europe, because representatives to the European Parliament
are pushing very hard for software patenting that would indeed shut out
all small and medium businesses from the software development business,
not just open source.

We're looking at a future where only the very largest companies will be
able to implement software, and it will technically be illegal for other
people to do so. That's a very, very bad situation developing. We must
do something so that there is reason for people to innovate, there is
reason for people to invent, but that companies can execute without this
constant fear that we will be sued into the ground regarding software
patenting. 

######## end of quote

We may be facing a future where evidence of thinking thoughts that have been
patented by others will be a crime. Can you imaging what the world would
be if Pythagoras (or some group) had patented his theorem? If these
forces that want to convert the thought world into a bazaar succeed, we
may be facing a world darker than the worst nightmare.