One of the places where nothing has been heard about the software patent controversy is the U.S. Congress. A few years ago I tried to mount a lobbying effort to get Congress to abolish software patents. I came to the conclusion that in order to get your message through to Congress you need either to hire a lobbyist or stage street demonstrations.
I suggest that the open source companies who are strongly against software parents, such as Red Hat and Google, pool the costs of hiring a lobbyist. We need to get the anti software patent message in front of the Congressional and Senate subcommittees that actually write U.S. patent law.
If you need a program change in an implanted device you do not want to be faced with vendor lock in. You should be able to have the doctor of your choice make the change based on his programmer of choice. If you have closed source software in an implanted device then your choice is to stay locked in to the original supplier or entirely replace the device with a competitor's device (if such exists).
One of the places where nothing has been heard about the software patent controversy is the U.S. Congress. A few years ago I tried to mount a lobbying effort to get Congress to abolish software patents. I came to the conclusion that in order to get your message through to Congress you need either to hire a lobbyist or stage street demonstrations.
I suggest that the open source companies who are strongly against software parents, such as Red Hat and Google, pool the costs of hiring a lobbyist. We need to get the anti software patent message in front of the Congressional and Senate subcommittees that actually write U.S. patent law.
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Steve Stites