> Seems like if you want to do software business in united states, you > have to commit the sin.
We are a free software consulting firm. I am a paying member of the FSF. I subscribe to the patent related views of FSF. I also subscribe to the 'pragmatic idealism' view point. Morality and Legality are very different. We need to operate within the established laws. As the laws are bad, FSF and other organisations are lobbying to change them. Until they are changed, we need to adopt a practical approach within the boundaries of the law. Best thing is to patent it and then transfer ownership to FSF. We applied for a patent which was rejected. But if we had been awarded it, we were planning to assign ownership to either the FSF or http://www.openinventionnetwork.com/ The other solution is to challenge the patents legally by citing prior-art. I am not commenting on the morality of patenting here but the practical solution in the real world scenario where patent laws exist. Until software patent system are legally dealt with, the above solution is the most practical. Patenting costs quite a bit of money so be warned. Regards, kc K. C. Ramakrishna www.rknowsys.com _______________________________________________ ILUGC Mailing List: http://www.ae.iitm.ac.in/mailman/listinfo/ilugc