@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
@pmoncho said in Non-IT News Thread:
As for Patents, those are a form of government control and a good one. It its not without its issue though.
I'm not a believer in patents. There's some sound idea behind it.... if you invent something you should have some advantage. But you already have an advantage, making it a monopoly hurts consumers. Patents work against capitalism and free markets and all traditional systems. The idea that "writing something down first" makes it yours is a problem. Once in a while, we can justify it by example, but rarely. There is hardly a patented item ever made that I think worked out. The idea of patents has nothing to do with invention, but exists to make it essentially impossible for individuals and small companies to compete and to shift money to big companies and lawyers.
Patents do have their issues, no doubt (can we say zmodem and rounded corners). IMHO, I believe having some form of protection for one's idea spurs further innovation. Putting a few billion dollars and many years into development of a product only to have it abused by another in one month is not a good thing.
The system only needs a few changes but my main changes would be, shorter term limits and very short term limits for patents without some type of prototype.