IBM has done a good job bamboozling the software community by selectively releasing software patents into the public domain or making them available to open source projects. A trinket here. A trinket there. Big Blue also got some good press of late by announcing that it would begin to publish its patent filings on the Web for public review. I have been sceptical all along and my suspicions were confirmed.
IBM just filed a lawsuit against Amazon for software patent infringement. And yes, the lawsuit was filed in East Texas. Software patents serve one purpose and one purpose alone. They allow powerful companies and incumbents to levy an arbitrary innovation tax, stifling entrants and ultimately driving up costs for all consumers. IBM holds more US software patents and files for more each year than any other company. It does so because it can afford to do so.
There is a new gold rush and it's for the set of basic ideas underlying the software we all use and depend upon. Big Blue, Blackboard, and other Big Companies are carving up the software idea landscape as quickly as they can.
Recent Comments