[ILUG] suggested questions for patent seminar

[Justin Mason]

Colin Whittaker said:

> > That's this afternoon BTW. I'm certainly not going to be able to make it
> > :( but would anyone else be able to go along and ask a few pointed q's?
> 
> got a list of suggested questions handy

hmm... let's see. How's about:

- what is your position on software and business method patents, and their
  legality in Europe, given that Ireland's patent office is supporting the
  removal of restrictions on their patentability?

[if he sez it's a good thing, then go into the counter-examples:]

- Amazon's "one-click" patent

- BT's hyperlink patent

- Oracle and Adobe's previous statements that "patents on software are
  more harmful than useful." (found 'em!!)

  http://www.base.com/software-patents/statements/oracle.statement.html
  http://www.base.com/software-patents/statements/adobe.testimony.html
  

- Tim Berners-Lee's statement that "the bar for innovation seems too low.
  You are able to take an existing social practice and write software to
  do it and get a patent"  and he added that "The challenge is to prevent
  us from becoming completely paralysed by fear, uncertainty and doubt".

  http://www.eurolinux.org/pr/pr1.html

- the MIT paper that showed, using statistical analysis of innovation in
  the software industry, that "broad and strong patent policies tend to
  reduce innovation".

  http://petition.eurolinux.org/reference/economy.html?LANG=en