Eben Moglen gives a talk titled "Patents at a Crossroads: Bilski and Beyond"

This interview is part of a series following the Supreme Court's Bilski decision, which left the laws on what you can get a patent on largely as they are, after a four-justice minority failed to ban "business method" patents.

"I became a fan of Eben Moglen when I saw this quote from him: “We also live in a world in which the right to tinker is under some very substantial threat. This is said to be because movie and record companies must eat. I will concede that they must eat. Though, like me, they should eat less.” This logic could be applied across the board in society! Computerworld recently featured an interview with Eben Moglen..."

"...The feature this week is the first half of a lecture given by Professor Eben Moglen on the danger of software patents..."

To orchestrate change you need someone who can balance vision with pragmatism. In Eben Moglen the proponents choreographing the software patents debate have such a leader.

"Reading Eben Moglen’s keynote address, “Freeing the Mind: Free Software and the Death of Proprietary Culture,” I felt a bit like Richard Stallman while he worked to replace UNIX with GNU: reaching the same destination but apprehensive about the other guy’s route. Moglen, a law professor and founder of the Software Freedom Law Center, discusses free software v. the behemoths of software largely in moral terms..."

A professor of Law and legal history at the Columbia University, Moglen preaches what he practices -- free software and the role it plays in improving education. As part of Bangalore's Christ University's conference on distributed education, Moglen delivered a (recorded) talk on how he uses Wikis to teach his Law courses.

"Eben Moglen is a professor of law and legal history at Columbia University, and is the founder, Director-Counsel and Chairman of Software Freedom Law Center, whose client list includes numerous pro bono clients, such as the Free Software Foundation..."

Professor Eben Moglen responds to disinformation from Novell's Joe "Zonker" Brockmeier, who was sent to London by Novell's PR team in order to speak to journalists