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Subject:Re: Lawyers want to gut our tools From:Andrew Plato <intrepid_es -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Sat, 20 Oct 2001 13:39:19 -0700 (PDT)
Andrew rant approaching. Please place all sensitivities in a safe
location.
> Hmmm, I guess this means that you probably don't want to hear what I
think
> about US Patent No. 4,558,302 or what the URL is for the League for
> Programming Freedom. heh.
Great - communists. Ever see the movie Repo Man? "You're not a communist
are you son? Well, I don't want any commies in my car...and no Christians
either!" Haw haw, what a great movie.
Anyway...moving right along into my rant...
Patents protect authors be they individuals or organizations (companies) -
and this applies to writers in the form of copyrights. How would you like
it if you spent a decade writing a book only to have it stolen by your
neighbor who went and made a fortune off it...and you had no legal
recourse because the government "opposes patents and book copyrights."
(paraphrased from the League for Programming Freedom web site). You would
be pretty angry and feel ripped off and want to hire a lawyer. You'd want
compensation for your hard work.
Well this same, simple concept, applies to technologies. If a company or
individual invests time and money in developing some technology - they
have a right to make a profit from it and protect it from theft. Patents
are a way to allow firms to make money off their work for a while before
it enters the "public domain." This system has worked well for decades and
will and should transfer into 21st century technologies.
As for Macromedia vs Adobe...Macromedia has a right to sue and recover
losses if it can make a case. I highly doubt anybody in this forum is
involved in the case and knows the true history. Therefore, we can trust
that the courts will work it out.
Hard work deserves reward. People will not work hard if there was no
incentive or reward. By reward, I mean MONEY. Fame and respect may feel
good but money keeps you alive.
Andrew Plato
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