Out of Cheese

Dave Winer notes that Red Hat is patenting its work. It’s a shame that people are up in arms about this. Software patents are a lot like PAC money — they shouldn’t be necessary, but until the rules change, you’re at a serious disadvantage if you don’t play the game. A few people manage to get by without PACs, but Russ Feingold will probably admit that he has to work a lot harder as a result. The same is true for patents — if Red Hat didn’t patent their work, they’d be at a serious disadvantage when negotiating with any company with a strong patent portfolio. As ridiculous as I think most software patents are, I certainly can’t blame Red Hat for playing by the rules as they stand.