a German court has effectively allowed a wide range of software patents. Previously, you could have very limited software patents only if they involved using "controllable forces of nature" to create a desired effect. Software usually did not qualify.

The patent system receives more mockery and jabs while monopolies like Apple exploit it in order to marginalise competition

Tech companies are playing hardball on smart phones, yet Linux could gain the upper hand with Intel and Nokia going on the defensive with MeeGo. To get you on Facebook while on the bus, play a tune, and - oh, yeah - make a call, Microsoft and Apple are finding new ways to reign in the competition on phones: they're using patent threats.

Jobs replied, saying that “[a] patent pool is being assembled to go after Theora and other open source codecs now.” The news spread like wildfire. This episode provides a good example of how software patents harm innovation and why they are ultimately incompatible with Free Software. Any program - Free Software or not - is threatened by patents.

We've all heard how the h.264 is rolled over on patents and royalties. Even with these facts, I kept supporting the best-performing "delivery" codec in the market, which is h.264. "Let the best win", I kept thinking. But it wasn't until very recently when I was made aware that the problem is way deeper. No, my friends.

A look at one of the software patent culprits, who advances personal agenda at the expense of Europe's

A look at some issues where Microsoft walks among patents and uses their enforcement to pursue its own goals