Sanity's Journal: Karma at work

I read this essay by Jonathan Schwartz, President of Sun Microsystems, and was rather disappointed by his slavish support for the existence of software patents. In it he repeats the thoroughly discredited and naive argument that more IP is better because IP means innovation, and thus we need software patents. Not in my wildest dreams could this have been followed, just a few days later, by this, Kodak winning a suit against Sun in which it alleges that Java infringes on some of their patents (all of them classic examples of what is wrong with patent law), and now they want half of Sun's operating profit from 1998 to 2001!

Hey Jonathan, why did Sun need to steal Kodak's precious intellectual property - and if you didn't, perhaps, having experienced the wrong end of US patent law, you can reconsider your position on software patents?

just another case

[asv108]

Where Sun conflicts with itself. Its really hard to become an open source company when it is a complete 180 from your previous business model.

Re:just another case

[Sanity]

Perhaps, but this guy seems out-and-out anti-Open Source, I mean, his attitudes seem like they are from a different age. He even seems to advocate the exclusion of third party print cartridge manufacturers - which is blatantly anti-competitive behaviour by anyone's standards.

Re:just another case

[metlin]

Well, it's amazing how people lose their principles when money comes into picture, isn't it? :-)

Nice

[ryanr]

I hadn't put two-and-two together on those ones. You're right, some nice poetic justice.