Ask HN: How do you deal with IP (when you don't believe in it)? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do you deal with IP (when you don't believe in it)?

2 pointsjgmmo10 comments

Howdy folks, I've recently found myself in a position where I am developing a SAS offering, and the company I work for wants to investigate IP options.

I don't believe in IP. I think the whole idea is silly. If I could I would prefer to GPL everything I write. I don't think anyone can own ideas, and I definitely don't think someone can have a government monopoly on implementing certain ideas.

How do you guys deal with this? Does anyone else feel personally that they don't think IP is a legitimate idea - but they are compelled to file patents and such regardless? Do you pitch your company on going open-source? Or try to sell the company on just keeping the goodies as 'trade secrets'?

What say you, hackers of the world?

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I also don't believe in IP, but my career is literally in IP (I work with patents, within the IP division of a large company). IP is a game -- it has a set of rules that people play by -- and my job is to work with the rules as they are implemented, not to worry about whether or not the rules are good rules (or whether or not they accurately reflect some aspect of reality).

Refusing to work with IP because you don't believe in it is like refusing to play WoW because you don't believe in wizards.

Now, if you have a philosophical objection to IP, that's a different issue. You need to determine for yourself what your philosophical objection is worth in monetary terms. Will this company be able to pay you enough to make you temporarily set aside your moral standing (or, alternately, will the release of this software produce more good in the world than its licensing produced bad in the world)? If the answer is no, then leave.

The answer, unless you are already wealthy, is probably yes -- few people are willing to starve to death for their position on the morality of IP, and if you quit your job and refuse to work for any company that uses or produces proprietary products, you will probably run out of money and starve to death on the street before you find a new job that fits your criteria.

Thanks for the comment. I appreciate it.

"Howdy folks, I've recently found myself in a position where I am developing a SAS offering, and the company I work for wants to investigate IP options."

I'm just curious, do you want to stay employed at your current job? If you open-sourced your SASS offering and 10 competitors popped up in the next few months and you were fired (because your company went out of business), would you be okay with this?

Not open-sourcing your software gives you what little competitive advantage you have in this world. Especially against large corporations. It's becoming easier and easier to start a software company these days, and large companies have more money and man-power than you.

If you are trying to make a profit, why would you just hand over all of your ideas and software to a competitor? It really doesn't make any sense to me.

So much of success doesn't depend on the code or the idea. Its product-market fit, time to market and such things. As engineers we wish that clever code or a good idea were all it took. So often they don't really matter at all.

So is this an argument that potentially being at the 'right-place right-time' is all that's needed, not necessarily the IP?

Sure. And its a crap shoot even then. Multiple startups are essentially based on the same observation, with more or less equivalent solutions. Then its ALL about marketing.

I hear ya. Whats it worth to me.

I'm just wondering what grey area exists, is it all or nothing (quit for my morals, vs helping them to file the patent and just hope it gets used only defensively, etc.)

You have a number of options:

1. Quit

2. Do an excellent job, and try and present an unbiased case.

3. Try and present as negative case as possible for IP, and as positive a case for not protecting the company IP.

4. Don't do it and hope they forget.

I doubt they will listen. Limiting your options to quiting or hoping they'll forget. Personally, I'd probably say you don't think that the code can effective be protected by patents but you're not an expert and they may want to find an outside consultant.

Then find a new job that better aligns with your interests.

I hear ya.

"I'd probably say you don't think that the code can effective be protected by patents but you're not an expert and they may want to find an outside consultant." - good advice.

If it's not your name on the door, do you really have a final say in what the answer to this question is?

Problem is, now that your company is aware of what you're working on you just can't leave and start your writing your own GPL code on the same idea. Since your employer values all internally developed IP they will most likely come after you for the "theft" of that IP.

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