The plan would have worked, if not for Google which made the price of patents skyrocket.
To me, this argument looks like: <some stuff I dont care about in the slightest> Google: Software patents are bad and are going to be used against us.
That puts me, in this fight, squarely on the side of google.
But I am not fussy, if Microsoft comes out again and vocally declaims the evil of software patents, they can be on my side again as well.
What I really want to see is large software companies consistently and actively working against software patents in every direction, putting the patents they control into a pool that everyone can join on the agreement that they never sue anyone for patent infringement, and giving everyone in the pool equal ownership of the patents in there. While also working to lobby for overriding reform of the patent system.
that would be a good start, and I dont see anyone doing it at the moment.
So really, sod them all.
That's not Google. They tried to play the game just like the others. The protesting seems to have started after they lost.
Until they do so, Google is playing the game honorably, because they have no choice - they are not playing the game just like the others.
I don't know enough to take sides, but I do know that non-specific software patents are 24-carat BS as 'defensive use' is super subjective. I just think that Google could and should have stayed away from Nortel bidding, or at least voiced concern before losing out to a consortium. That ways, it could have avoided the 'sore loser' argument entirely.
That's an interesting idea! And they might even put some funds/legal help in there to help protect any member companies from patent suits by others. Then, if anyone is in this pool, they're protected by this NATO-like pact.
This kind of thing could kill software patents, if companies can join easily enough (e.g: Even without contributing patents).
This doesn't solve the problem of patent trolls, though.
And before you start, the reason they're on the wrong side when they buy the patents, and Google isn't, is that they have a history of abusing the patent system, and abuse it currently, and Google does not.
I agree that the patent system is broken as is, but there needs to be a mechanism protecting the intellectual property that allows companies to share their innovations with the world without fear of them being stolen (copying is cheap).