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- Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.apps
- Path: sparky!uunet!usc!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!eff!ckd
- From: ckd@eff.org (Christopher Davis)
- Subject: Re: Stallman & lawyers (was Re: SPA piracy raid at Oregon?)
- In-Reply-To: jas@ISI.EDU's message of 28 Jul 92 18:15:27 GMT
- Message-ID: <CKD.92Jul29140321@loiosh.eff.org>
- Sender: usenet@eff.org (NNTP News Poster)
- Nntp-Posting-Host: loiosh.eff.org
- Organization: Electronic Frontier Foundation Tech Central
- References: <1992Jul26.195454.25350@metropolis.com> <22057@venera.isi.edu>
- <D88-JWA.92Jul28141636@dront.nada.kth.se> <22059@venera.isi.edu>
- Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 18:03:25 GMT
- Lines: 21
-
- Jeff> == Jeff Sullivan <jas@ISI.EDU>
-
- Jeff> If these were so trivial, why hadn't they been invented before
- Jeff> they were? Many things look trivial in hindsight...
-
- The XOR cursor was invented *long* before it was patented. It was so
- obvious nobody thought to try patenting it for quite some time. I
- independently reinvented it at the age of 12. Yay.
-
- Jeff> If you came up with it on your own, then you should be in the
- Jeff> clear, right?
-
- Except that patent law, unlike copyright law, doesn't make allowances
- for independent development; if someone patented a particular algorithm,
- which I then *unknowingly* use in one of my programs, I'm still liable
- for patent violations. *This* is the biggest problem with patents...
- --
- Christopher Davis * ckd@eff.org * System Administrator, EFF * +1 617 864 0665
- ``The First Amendment is often inconvenient. But that is besides the
- point. Inconvenience does not absolve the government of its obligation
- to tolerate speech.'' --Justice Anthony Kennedy, in 91-155
-