Yup. That was the first line that stuck out to me too and prompted me to come over to HN and comment.
Innovation is happening at a breakneck pace despite software patents because everyone is just ignoring them and inventing anyways.
The patents do damage after the fact, killing good tech jobs by diverting money from engineering and R&D to the zero-sum game of patent litigation that just leaves society as a whole poorer.
TBH, I don't know how many entrepreneurs opt out of entrepreneurship due to the risk of being sued down the line, but I doubt that it is very high. Most of the entrepreneurs worried about patent litigation will just start amassing a patent portfolio of their own as a defensive strategy. The end result of that game is less progress since innovation efforts are diverted to patent defense efforts.
I don't know about everyone else here, but I would love a conversation on a national scale to discuss jobs that don't move the country and humanity forward, but just move cash from one pocket to another without benefitting anyone but the people moving the money. Wall street financial innovations, patent litigation and the TSA are just three examples of areas that have experienced job growth in the past 20 years (even with the 2008 meltdown), but that do little to nothing to improve the human condition. For some reason, the more we automate jobs and increase the productivity of the American worker, the more we divert our attention to creating jobs that don't add value.
Innovation is happening at a breakneck pace despite software patents because everyone is just ignoring them and inventing anyways.
The patents do damage after the fact, killing good tech jobs by diverting money from engineering and R&D to the zero-sum game of patent litigation that just leaves society as a whole poorer.
TBH, I don't know how many entrepreneurs opt out of entrepreneurship due to the risk of being sued down the line, but I doubt that it is very high. Most of the entrepreneurs worried about patent litigation will just start amassing a patent portfolio of their own as a defensive strategy. The end result of that game is less progress since innovation efforts are diverted to patent defense efforts.
I don't know about everyone else here, but I would love a conversation on a national scale to discuss jobs that don't move the country and humanity forward, but just move cash from one pocket to another without benefitting anyone but the people moving the money. Wall street financial innovations, patent litigation and the TSA are just three examples of areas that have experienced job growth in the past 20 years (even with the 2008 meltdown), but that do little to nothing to improve the human condition. For some reason, the more we automate jobs and increase the productivity of the American worker, the more we divert our attention to creating jobs that don't add value.