Why abolish software patents

This is a rough article to make a long list of all the arguments against software patents. This will be used as a base for drafting work in the coming weeks and months as well as in the upcoming Bilski case and maybe the New Zealand legislative proposal, and other Current opportunities and dangers.

The list

• After 20 years, the disclosed ideas are almost all useless
• SMEs and individuals can't afford to do patent searches
• SMEs and individuals can't afford to defend themselves
• When a standard it patented, the only way to avoid the patent is to avoid the standard
• Since the logic (idea) of software can be reduced to mathematical formula (idea) with Church-Turing Thesis, and because mathematical formula (idea) is not patentable, software should not be patentable as well.
• Since the only requirement to develop software is a commodity computer, which is very cheap, software should not be patentable just as authoring a book that only requires paper and a pen, which are very cheap, is not patentable.

Existing articles

• Harm to standards
• Blocking innovation and research
• Freedom of expression
• Less choice, more monopolies
• Preventing competition - lower quality, higher prices
• Software patents harm SMEs
• Preventing competition and entrenching monopolies
• Patent trolls, or "parasites"
• Used for sabotage rather than competition sometimes called "business weapons"
• All businesses are targets
• Jobs and skills
• Incompatible timespans
• Costs of the patent system to governments
• Quality of software patents is particularly bad