Subject: Re: free software as a delivery vehicle for lisp From: Erik Naggum <erik@naggum.net> Date: Fri, 05 Apr 2002 20:47:33 GMT Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp Message-ID: <3227028469961507@naggum.net> * Thomas Bushnell, BSG | Um, already done. And guess what: patents are uniformly described as a | solution to the problem of inventors keeping inventions secret. That is just plain ridiculous nonsense. Patents are public documents, and although a patent search is generally expensive, you should be able to locate and read any patent if you have the patent number, very close to free of charge. Of course, there are several million of them, but at least IBM has a great patent search engine on the net. I cannot imagine how you could become so confused. Read some books written by legal experts, and fewer by clueless anti-patent activists. I have already recommended David R. Koepsell: The Ontology of Cyberspace, Law, Philosphy, and the Future of Intellectual Propery. It is a remarkably intelligent exposition of both the current situation and the problems we face. Only 130 pages long, it is packed with insight. /// -- In a fight against something, the fight has value, victory has none. In a fight for something, the fight is a loss, victory merely relief. Post with compassion: http://home.chello.no/~xyzzy/kitten.jpg