[pp.int.general] software patents

[Valentin Villenave]

On Thu, Dec 17, 2009 at 10:27 PM, Samir Allioui
<samir.allioui at pp-international.net> wrote:
> Well, it is one of the 3 ingredients that makes a pirate party an pirate
> party.
> If this one is not excluded, you're nothing but a party who is (ab)using a
> strong brand.

It may generally be better, for pedagogical (or PR) purposes, to start
by introducing the most striking examples of patent abuses:
bio-patents and software patents are very useful in this regard. (But
not only: for instance the company that patented Hindu yoga is also
particularly self-explanatory.)
Then come pharmaceutical patents, that take a bit longer to explain
and oppose against ("but, what if patents are abolished and companies
stop inventing new medications", etc.)
Then come other, more trivial patents.

My point is, there's a learning curve -- including for ourselves, so
that we know exactly what we're talking about and how to talk about
it. The "reject *all* patents NOW immediately immediately or else it
means you're not a responsible citizen/not a legit Pirate" approach,
while ethically valid, might not be the most efficient one on a
long-term perspective. Can we agree on that?

Cheers,
Valentin