Replies

Then if I own a patent on a file format I should give it away?

Yes. You have no right to "own" an idea. That "right" was created by the government, it is not something you have a natural right to. Patents are a pox on a free market. They let little vermin sue the hell out of big producers and by the same token they let monopolies and big producers sue small competitors into oblivion.

If you want true competition, abolish the patent system and most federal regulations on production. That will make the barrier to entry much lower and will encourage excellence. The problems with the BS patents like "1 click shopping" are not extreme examples. They are the natural conclusion to the idea that you can own an idea. What we are seeing now is nothing more than the true nature of "idea ownership" taken to its natural conclusion.

Americans need to get over the idea of fairness in the economy. Life isn't fair so stop trying to make it fair.

I'll just have to come up with something different and better.

Ok then smart guy, how are your users going to transfer their data from Microsoft Office to your new Office suite? Copy and paste the data and pray that it is preserved in the clipboard accurately? Your "solution" which allows Microsoft to own the file formats they use works when the amount of data is small. What about businesses that have terabytes of data to transition? Your "solution" makes it functionally impossible for them to go out and buy a cheap product that is able to take the data from their Microsoft apps and turn it into data for a new product they just bought.

"Ok then smart guy, how are your users going to transfer their data from Microsoft Office to your new Office suite? Copy and paste the data and pray that it is preserved in the clipboard accurately? Your "solution" which allows Microsoft to own the file formats they use works when the amount of data is small. What about businesses that have terabytes of data to transition? Your "solution" makes it functionally impossible for them to go out and buy a cheap product that is able to take the data from their Microsoft apps and turn it into data for a new product they just bought."

Uh... I'd write a program to convert the data? What do I win?

Yes. You have no right to "own" an idea.

A file format isn't an idea. It's an expression of an idea -- which is protected under federal copyright law.

That "right" was created by the government, it is not something you have a natural right to.

True. The government also has laws which protect us against fraud. And violence. We don't have a "natural right" to those things, either.

Patents are a pox on a free market. They let little vermin sue the hell out of big producers and by the same token they let monopolies and big producers sue small competitors into oblivion.

Nah. They simply keep leeches like you from ripping off their inventions without any investment of your own.

Americans need to get over the idea of fairness in the economy. Life isn't fair so stop trying to make it fair.

Look who's demanding "fairness": You. You keep insisting that companies be forced to hand over their intellectual property. And you've twisted that statement into the suggestion that anybody who doesn't agree with you is demanding "fairness in the economy". Geezus, dude. Put down the Communist Manifesto and join capitalist society.