I would like to start a meme. Especially for you politicos out there ( Read more... )

After Crookes v. P2pnet.net, the issue of "what exactly is publishing, anyway?" has been slowly percolating in my brain. In particular, in relation to the idea of software patents, and patents more generally -- I've often mused that, even ignoring the costs of defending prior art as valid, it might make sense for us to think as far ahead into the ( Read more... )

( What is ACTA? )

Patents may have the added side benefit/cost that there is an incentive for otherwise uninventive people to invent new ways of doing things *in case* the way they need to do things in the future gets patented, preempive prior art, as it were. I don't know how much this actually happens, mind you, but if the intent is to foster innovation, that ( Read more... )