Back when the web was just something fringe geeks did, I and many other people did a lot of innovation in the “open source” environment of HTML and Javascript.. Now, I’ve seen versions of the code we wrote show up in all kinds of commercial products from Adobe, Microsoft, and scores of others. Now that I see all these companies making money off of our inventions, should I start filing patents with my ‘prior art’ and become a patent troll?
No. It’s too late now. What we wrote has become standard practice and it has allowed The Web to flourish bigger and faster than any other communications medium. What’s more, if we’d filed patents back when we made those code bits, we would have stifled the pace of creativity that has made the web what it is today. I would love to have some credit for my contributions and some extra cash if people are making money off of them.. but trying to get that now would be childish and petty.
What MS and other overly-competitive businesses are trying to do with these patents are far too late, bad for their own industry, and basically immoral. It would be nice if they would just stop. Aren’t they rich enough? Success is fine.. but success at the expense of everything and everyone around you is evil.