From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sat Aug 4 12:24:55 2012 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [69.147.83.52]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 0EBF0106564A for ; Sat, 4 Aug 2012 12:24:55 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from bonomi@mail.r-bonomi.com) Received: from mail.r-bonomi.com (mx-out.r-bonomi.com [204.87.227.120]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B1D768FC16 for ; Sat, 4 Aug 2012 12:24:53 +0000 (UTC) Received: (from bonomi@localhost) by mail.r-bonomi.com (8.14.4/rdb1) id q74CQs60058248; Sat, 4 Aug 2012 07:26:54 -0500 (CDT) Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2012 07:26:54 -0500 (CDT) From: Robert Bonomi Message-Id: <201208041226.q74CQs60058248@mail.r-bonomi.com> To: dr2867@pacbell.net, kpneal@pobox.com, wojtek@wojtek.tensor.gdynia.pl In-Reply-To: <1344029675.52304.YahooMailClassic@web182201.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Patent hit - MS goes after Linux - FreeBSD ? X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 04 Aug 2012 12:24:55 -0000 > Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2012 14:34:35 -0700 (PDT) > From: Daniel Rudy > Subject: Re: Patent hit - MS goes after Linux - FreeBSD ? > > ...... A big difference between copyright > and patents is that copyright is constitutional (Article 1, Section 8, > Clause 8), patents are not. FALSE TO FACT. Quoting from Article 1, Section 8: "To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries,: Congress is _expressly_ authorized to secure "for limited times to ... invetors the esclusive right to their ... inventions". > The reason why patents came up was that back > around 1900 when automobile manufacturing was getting started, companies > would copy each others ideas. You come up with something, then a week > competitors stole your idea and was implementing it in their products. Pure, undiluted, male bovine excrement. Fact: the U.S. had been issuing patents for over ONE HUNDRED YEARS by that time. The first patent under the _current_ numbering sytem was issued on July 13, 1836, with 9,957 patents issued prior to that numberinng system -- the first of which was issued o 7/4, 1790. Now, applying for a patent =was= a convoluted, lengthy (as in -years-), and time-consuming, process -- which a lot of inventors did -not- bother with, unless they saw relatiely "immmediate" opportunities for it to generate commercial revenue. And such 'unprotected' work _was_ 'fair game' for copying. Which was a _good_ thing for the then-nascent auto- motive industry. Imagine the mayhem if somebody had pateted the steering wheel, the gear-shift lever/mechanism, or the arrangement of the foot-pedals. Somebody who learned to drive a Ford, wouldn't be able to drive an Olds, etc.