An accumulation of reports about Microsoft, its patent trolls, use of Novell, Red Hat's response and other trolls

"Patents are short-term monopolies (20 years) designed to give inventors sufficient time in which to recoup their R&D costs and turn a profit. Open source turns the 20-year patent term into two years, if that. As a relentless, ever-growing competitor, open source keeps the proprietary world in check and on its toes to a degree that the industry has never before seen."

Continuing our series on the In Re Bilski ruling [PDF], here is Judge Mayer's dissenting opinion as text, the one that points out how utterly damaging all business methods patents are. Also, a reader sent me this link to what I agree is the best overview of the ruling that we've seen yet, by the law firm of Ladas & Parry.

"As opinions form about the extent to which the Court ruling impacts the patenting of software, one thing is clear. The State Street ruling that in 1998 opened the flood gates to the patenting of business methods and software has been gutted, if not technically overturned..."

Microsoft sued in China; some blasts from the past; By lobbying for software patents, Microsoft hopes to harm everyone (but Free software more so)

Behind the ACTA stands the “copyrights cartel,” as Dan Gillmor refers to it. It’s obvious what the problem is (or is not). What’s lesser known, however, is the impact which these abominable laws can have on patent trolls and their victims.

Here is a video where John McCain speaks about intellectual monopolies and software patents.