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Harms to education

Patents on software harm education at all levels. Software patents create legal costs and risks for computer learners who study the software they use, and they introduce uncertainty regarding the use of the skills learned in higher education.

In-house software and free software

A survey by European Schoolnet found that two thirds of schools use virtual learning environments that are either developed in-house or are free software.[1] Adding patent risks to bodies that develop or modify software thus creates risks for the majority of schools.

Costs and choice

Patents, according to the European Schoolnet study, would narrow the choice of software on offer and increase the costs passed on to buyers of software.

As found in a study by Software Freedom Law Center, for every copy of Microsoft Windows, the buy pays US$20 for patents.[2]

A school with only 50 Windows machines — barely enough for one class of students — is paying $1,000 of its limited budget in patent tax, rather than buying books or other useful supplies.

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Why abolish software patents
Why abolish software patents Why focus only on software · Why software is different · Software patent quality worse than all other fields · Harm caused by all types of patents
Legal arguments Software is math · Software is too abstract · Software does not make a computer a new machine · Harming freedom of expression · Blocking useful freedoms
High costs Costly legal costs · Cost of the patent system to governments · Cost barrier to market entry · Cost of defending yourself against patent litigation
Impact on society Restricting freedom Harm without litigation or direct threats · Free software projects harmed by software patents · More than patent trolls · More than innovation · Slow process creates uncertainty
Preventing progress Software relies on incremental development · Software progress happens without patents · Reducing innovation and research · Software development is low risk · Reducing job security · Harming education · Harming standards and compatibility
Disrupting the economy Used for sabotage · Controlling entire markets · Breaking common software distribution models · Blocking competing software · Harming smaller businesses · Harming all types of businesses · A bubble waiting to burst
Problems of the legal system Problems in law Clogging up the legal system · Disclosure is useless · Software patents are unreadable · Publishing information is made dangerous · Twenty year protection is too long
Problems in litigation Patent trolls · Patent ambush · Invalid patents remain unchallenged · Infringement is unavoidable · Inequality between small and large patent holders