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Old 10-26-2003, 09:22 PM  
Dravyk
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Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Yo, Philly!
Posts: 1,202
Why just Acacia? Fight for total Patent Reform!

Another Acacia thread? Not necessarily. Something I've not seen brought up as yet:

Why fight a bunch of battles instead of winning the war?

Acacia mini battles, Acacia big battles, then let's say for the helluvit they are defeated. Ok, who's next? The patent for the affiliate program? The patent for making thumbs? For exit consoles? Maybe the patent for the hyperlink itself!

My point is we're thinking too damned small here. Oh hell yes, Acacia is the current evil villian -- by far! No doubt about it, but what about the next one? And the next and the next?

And if you think it's going to be one-at-a-time in a row, don't fool yourselves either. We can ALL easily find ourselves in the near future fending off the "Axis Powers of Patents" with multiple enemies at the same time. Each of them asking for 2-5% of the gross! Do your own math, how many 5% of grosses does it take before there's no value in anyone being in business? Not many.

What is the answer? Pushing for Patent Reform and doing what every other industry does (and many smaller than ours do), which is have professional lobbyists working in D.C., contribute to candidates and PACs that are supportive of our interests, and grassroots lobbying by writing to your Congressmen. (That one is FREE folks!)

The U.S. Patent Office has pretty much spent the last 10-15 years fucking up the works. None of this would be here if the pencil-pushers had even remotely technical knowledge; instead they rubber stamped every stupid thing that crossed their wake. Their ignorance and incompetance has opened a legal and economic Pandora's Box of nightmares upon the Internet, with about twenty years worth and tens of thousands of future lawsuits, with trillions of dollars that will be wasted in legal battles, billions in illigitimate patent fees paid, incaclcuable future loss of jobs and companies being put out of business (adult and mainstream) and much more.

What we need is Patent Reform Act, one that is retroactive and with little or no grandfather clauses. Something that will have an oversight committee re-review and have the authority to overturn all technological patents issued since 1990 that do not have true merit. (Dont laugh, under the circumstances this would be cheaper than the lawsuts and economic setbacks. Also, what the government can giveth, the government can taketh away! That is a fact!!) And for those patents deemed to stand that have merit, a system of responsible fees, not this 5% gross, whatever they want to make up bullshit.

This is the and the most effective way to stop all of this bullshit, by putting the patent whores out of business for good. (This is the '00s equivalent of the '80s junk bond scheme, and its effect on not US commerce but global commerce can be devastating.) A law needs to be passed to correct the wrongs of the moronic bureaucrats, before people are put out of business or give in to legal extortion or spend money on court case after court case.

Trust me, there will be strong backup for such a law by the judiciary; the last thing they want is more burdensome frivilous law suits. Pro e-ecommerce senators and representives will also support such an initiative. And there are more Washington power brokers who would also have an interest in this. Not to mention the general business sector. Remember these things are not just adult, they are now and or they will be mainstream as well. Even Acacia is already going after colleges and college students now.

This is where we should be fighting ... fight the WAR, not merely the current battles. Just as the IMPA defendents can end the Acacia thing by a win, creating precdent, so can retroactive Patent Reform Act take out the "Acacias", this real Acacia, and the next "Acacia", and the hundreds of other "Acacias" all quietly getting into line -- for their cut of your money!!
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