Difference between revisions of "Why focus only on software"
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Revision as of 14:53, 27 November 2009
(Note: ESP Wiki takes a broad interpretation of the "software" in software patents)
Whether patents are good or bad in a particular domain depends on different criteria. Some domains, such as writing software, writing books, composing music, performing math etc. are domains where ordinary members of society participate, individually or in groups. These are activities that can be completely fulfilled by non-profit activity. To participate in a field which carries patent risks, you need money and lawyers. In the domains mentioned above, adding patents equates to taking away people's freedom to participate in these activities.
Choosing our opposition
On the other hand, by criticising a wider category of patents, we increase the number of opponents we have to debate. By fighting software patents, we have to fight Microsoft, IBM, and other large companies. If we fight all patents, then we also have to fight the whole pharmaceutical industry and the car manufacturing industry. So we make it harder to achieve our goal.
That said, there's no reason for anti-swpat campaigners to endorse patents in other fields. We don't have to say that patents are ok elsewhere but not for software. We can simply say that we don't have an opinion on other fields, but for software we have a strong opinion that there should be no software patents.
