Hi,
On Wed, Jan 26, 2000 at 11:22:58AM +0000, Brian Nesbitt wrote:
> Can't understand what all the fuss is about. If Amazon didn't patent
> it then some one else would have. I think there's an important lesson
> to be learnt here with regards to giving away really good ideas to big
> business.
Agreed. Can't blame Amazon for patenting something that arguably/probably
shouldn't be patentable. Blame the patent office. Amazon are just playing
by the rules. Nothing wrong with having patents. Often feel that the fsf
should register itself a portfolio of software patents with which to fight
proprietary software. :-)
Amazon's suing Barnes & Noble (*) for `violating' this specious patent scares
me a little. Not a lot, just a little - both are pretty big corporations and
at that level it seems to me like a big game. If Amazon were to sue a much
smaller entity for the same reasons, I would be very angry and would consider
not shopping with Amazon.
In other words, if Amazon were a `bully', I'd stop buying from them, but it's
hard to call someone a bully when they're picking on somebody bigger than them. :-)
Of course, I've probably totally misread the situation...
Wesley.
(*) I assume this is what has caused all this fuss.
Maintained by the ILUG website team. The aim of Linux.ie is to
support and help commercial and private users of Linux in Ireland. You can
display ILUG news in your own webpages, read backend
information to find out how. Networking services kindly provided by HEAnet, server kindly donated by
Dell. Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds,
used with permission. No penguins were harmed in the production or maintenance
of this highly praised website. Looking for the
Indian Linux Users' Group? Try here. If you've read all this and aren't a lawyer: you should be!
