<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><HTML><FONT SIZE=2 PTSIZE=10>In a message dated 22/02/2008 05:52:53 GMT Standard Time, kanzure@gmail.com writes:<BR>
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What would it mean if they were fundamentally wrong? Would you boycot <BR>
them? Would you stop inventing? Would you stop using them?</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" BACK="#ffffff" style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=2 PTSIZE=10 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0"></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>
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</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" BACK="#ffffff" style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=2 PTSIZE=10 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">The equation: (first to think of it)+(has money for patent)+(jumps through right hoops) = must be paid by all (except the chinese). is just fundamentally wrong.<BR>
I much prefer:<BR>
(First to think of it)=(warm fuzzy feeling)+(better world)+(recognition<BR>
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I no longer use patents, but would never stop inventing. Apologies for the chinese snipe. However it is a valid point. How can we be competitive against a nation which generally ignores our patent laws when we are restricting our own productivity and trying to squeeze every dime out of each other?<BR>
</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" BACK="#ffffff" style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=2 PTSIZE=10 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">My money is on Mr 'Super happy funtime widget maker' and his 1 billion+ friends.<BR>
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<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px"><BR>
> It has made me wonder what would happen if the patent system were<BR>
> scrapped. As I see it, the immediate effect would be a whole bunch of<BR>
> very cheap pharmaceuticals hitting the market. I also think this is<BR>
> the only way to create a truly competitive market place, where only<BR>
> the best quality products (or versions of) for a reasonable price<BR>
> would survive.<BR>
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Even the poor-quality products would survive in this information age. <BR>
Look at how many low quality websites are able to survive. A few bits <BR>
on a server somewhere, it doesn't take much. Scrapping the patent <BR>
system will not happen. Instead, perhaps we can work on some collective <BR>
way of bringing inventions into reality. I have been working on a <BR>
project off and on this week which might be a suitable introduction <BR>
platform (if there are any programmers which would like to collaborate, <BR>
contact me) -- I need to do some quick code cleanup and test a few <BR>
external APIs.<BR>
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</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" BACK="#ffffff" style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=2 PTSIZE=10 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">Why would the poor quality products survive? Data is very different from Hardware. If the consumer has the choice of products he will go for the best quality he can afford.<BR>
Unless you are talking disposable rubbish items.<BR>
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I Would be happy to help testing if It helps you, but my coding isn't worth a bean (far rustier than yours). So help would need to be in another form.</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" BACK="#ffffff" style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=2 PTSIZE=10 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0"><BR>
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<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">> I can imagine it somewhat levelling the income levels of many people<BR>
> as there would be many more companies in the world, with much flatter<BR>
> structures. Not only that, but you would also be more likely to get<BR>
> paid according to how much/how well you work, rather than how well<BR>
> you can exploit others. I think this is probably a very timely<BR>
> subject with the possibility of desktop production machines getting<BR>
> closer and closer. Imagine a world where you can create anything you<BR>
> want in a desktop nano machine, but have to swipe your credit card to<BR>
> pay some corporation patent licence fees, just because they had the<BR>
> resources to beat everyone to the patent office.<BR>
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Design is something that anybody can do. Art, etc. And why are you <BR>
talking about income levels? When it comes to nanotech and fabricators, <BR>
you're generally talking post "money" economics since you're suddenly <BR>
able to basically make everything you need, if you can survive long <BR>
enough to figure it out.<BR>
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</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" BACK="#ffffff" style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=2 PTSIZE=10 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">Income is relevant as we still live in a money society, Hopefully this is short term. Even in a post money economy, If you have to pay the piper for his licence, then that will be in blood,sweat and tears. Cash replaced by slavery? No thanks! even with the purely semantic difference between the two .<BR>
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<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">> New inventions are just progressions of existing technology, so given<BR>
> the wheel it was inevitable that someone would build a cart. So why<BR>
> are we paying the cart builders?<BR>
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Money. Old stuff embedded in billions of minds.</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" BACK="#ffffff" style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=2 PTSIZE=10 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0"></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>
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</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" BACK="#ffffff" style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=2 PTSIZE=10 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">Agreed Unfortunately. <BR>
It would be nice to see a workable non money economy. For what its worth i'm willing to give barter a try. I have about 30 metric tons of english boulder clay. Anyone swap for something? postage might be a bit pricey, but you can pick it up if you have a truck. I'll swap small quantities if you have something small to exchange.<BR>
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<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px"><BR>
> It would be nice to live in a world where invention was done for its<BR>
> own worth rather than the dreams of piles of cash. Wouldn't that kind<BR>
> of world be better at inventing more useful and effective things<BR>
> rather than the same old crap in a different package?<BR>
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There *are* people doing stuff just for the hell of it. Art. Open <BR>
source. Writing emails late at night instead of programming. ;)<BR>
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- Bryan<BR>
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LOL. stop procrastinating and go invent something.<BR>
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Alex</FONT> </HTML>