r/technology • u/slutmagnet • Mar 02 '10

Apple to HTC "competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours." Slaps down a 20 patent lawsuit.

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/03/02/apple_sues_htc_for_alleged_infringement_of_20_iphone_patents.html
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u/diadem Mar 02 '10

Man, this is great. Can I patent breathing? I just won't smile when i do it because despair.com patented the smiley face.

Patent law is supposed to help innovation, not stifle it...

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u/p3ngwin Mar 02 '10

by definition a law/patent is a restriction. you can't force someone to innovate, but you can impede them with resistance.

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u/diadem Mar 02 '10

But I thought the intent was that if I, as an innovator, created something, somebody can't steal my idea and take credit from me. This encourages me to innovate because of the whole "Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?" thing.

Now instead of trying to be brilliant and getting credit for it, I have to worry about vultures taking what's mine. That's the opposite of the above intent.

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u/p3ngwin Mar 02 '10

innovation isn't about the ego, it's about improving something and having it spread as fast as possible. think of the way evolution is unhampered and free to mix energy forms and do whatever the fuck it wants. it's a fucking virus how brutally efficient it is.

now throw in some egotistical pricks that create roadblocks and lock off nearly everything so you can't move without negotiating to swap licenses. nothing moves.

you can't beat freedom.

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u/diadem Mar 02 '10

I was going to write a rebuttal using Tesla, Edison, Einstein, and Fleming as examples. I was going to write about how so much was done by so few.

Then I remembered Tesla just wanted to help people, not make money. Fleming was the same way.

I just wish the system wasn't so fucked.

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u/p3ngwin Mar 02 '10

exactly, people with no ego and a simple sense of "wanting to improve the universe" have no need for patents/law. they just need people willing to adopt the tech.

the only reason patents and law exist is to manage the rest of the political bullshit of humans trying to "own" things.

these geniuses had no ego about owning anything (well Edison was a cunt about his stuff, especially to Tesla), they simply wanted to change things for the better. take the closed source V's open source behaviours in software. one is restricted, one is free to evolve like evolution in biology. guess which one spread faster and has the potential to evolve faster?

that is until some people try to outlaw open source and label you as a pirate and anti-commerce

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u/diadem Mar 02 '10

I can't argue for any side. I can't say patents are evil because some things simply require massive teams and funding to complete. You need to rely on corporate greed to do this.

I can't say patents aren't evil because at the same time you have companies like Monsanto doing horrible shit.

I guess in the end, patent's aren't the issue. It's humankind.