How is dealing with the NSA cause for canceling patents? Market condemnation, loss of business and even bankruptcy, yes. But taking their patents would be like taking a car company’s patents because they didn’t sell street cars that can go 150 mph at the request if the Transportation Department.
“But taking their patents would be like taking a car company’s patents because they didn’t sell street cars that can go 150 mph at the request if the Transportation Department.”
If a company sells a known defective product, and what is more defective that a computer security program with a back door, then if teh judgment is such that sale of the company assets must include the patents, what is different than any other satisfaction of judgment?
That’s not an equitable comparison.
The NSA compromised U.S technology companies by:
Blackmail
Bribery
Strong arming
surreptitiously through agents
Those companies then provided technological services for foreign Corporations of which at least some of them had expectations of privacy and security.
So it’s like this — Say Microsoft sold licenses for 1000 instances of Windows, SQL, MSword and MSoutlook.
Now the Corporation finds out that there are NSA backdoors into the software they are paying to use. These NSA backdoors go far beyond NSA as other more (subjectively) nefarious organizations find out they too can use the back doors.
What’s the company to do? Take Obama’s word that the U.S won’t do that anymore? Take the NSA word that ‘they’ll fix’ it?
It’s a violation of reasonable expectations if not outright violations of service contracts and non-disclosures (notice now how everybody has been including exemptions for information they may provide in secret to applicable government agencies?.
And we all know and it’s been reported over the years that the U.S government spies on foreign corporations as a form of strategic economic policy.
So, back at you. Why shouldn’t these U.S technology providers have their IP, patents and copyrights nullified?