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Difference between revisions of "More than patent trolls"

(==Trolls vs. non-trolls== Trolls generally cause economic harm because they want companies with money to pay licence fees. They usually don't try to block progress since that doesn't directly make a)
(How non-trolls affect you: ...it's usually because of a monopolist, not a troll.)
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# When you can only find one, or a small number of software packages to do a particular task
 
# When you can only find one, or a small number of software packages to do a particular task
 
# When you or your company is prevented from developing useful software
 
# When you or your company is prevented from developing useful software
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...it's usually because of a monopolist, not a troll.
  
 
===Problems which would still exist without trolls===
 
===Problems which would still exist without trolls===

Revision as of 11:09, 28 May 2013

Patent trolls get a lot of media coverage, but they're just one of many problems which arise from software patents, and they're not the biggest problem either.

Trolls vs. non-trolls

Trolls generally cause economic harm because they want companies with money to pay licence fees. They usually don't try to block progress since that doesn't directly make any money for them. What they're interested in is getting a percentage, so they want the patented idea to be used. The main problem they cause is that they make businesses less efficient and they sometimes block smaller businesses from operating in a market.

The bigger patent problem is from software companies that want to monopolise features and even whole domains of software development. They profit directly from blocking everyone else, so that's often what they do.

How non-trolls affect you

  1. When your computer says it can't play a certain audio/video format
  2. When some new software isn't compatible with your old software or with the software of the people you interact with
  3. When you can only find one, or a small number of software packages to do a particular task
  4. When you or your company is prevented from developing useful software

...it's usually because of a monopolist, not a troll.

Problems which would still exist without trolls

Why do trolls get so much attention?

The harm of trolls is exagerated for a few reasons.

  1. Some people measure harm by counting court cases and out of court settlements. Harm with neither litigation nor threats is harder to count.
  2. The patent-owning software companies need a scapegoat whenever someone complains about patents, so they point the finger at the trolls.

Related pages on ESP Wiki

Two examples that will be called trolls but are actually operated by groups of proprietary software companies:

External links