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From: rms@mole.ai.mit.EDU (Richard Stallman)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Software patents
Message-ID: <9102262229.AA07555@mole.ai.mit.edu>
Date: 26 Feb 91 22:29:16 GMT
Sender: daemon@athena.mit.edu (Mr Background)
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 17

While the X user community plans how to deal with the threats from
AT&T, I hope people will not think of this as a one-time isolated
problem.  It is a taste of what the future will be like.  Around 700
software patents were issued in 1989, according to the list compiled
by Glen Self.  The rate is probably still increasing.  This means that
patent problems will be commonplace for all software development.

It costs over half a million dollars to fight a lawsuit against a
patent, and not all patents can be overturned in this way.  While
tackling individual patents is worth doing, the only way to solve
the whole problem of software patents is to tackle it as a whole.

The League for Programming Freedom is a grass-roots organization of
programmers (mostly) that is working to bring back the freedom to
write programs, freedom that we had until recently.  It has both
individuals and companies as members.  For more information, write to
league@prep.ai.mit.edu.