A quick topical question.

You are probably aware of RMS' recent call for a boycott of Amazon.com for their persuit of a software patent claim against a rival.

As a company with close connections with both Amamzon and the Open Source community, O'Reilly's position on this issue would be very interesting, to me and I'm sure to many others.

Richard,

I have struggled with this issue since RMS first approached me to sign on to his campaign. I've declined to urge a boycott because I do think that Amazon provides an incredible service, and one that many of our customers find valuable. At the same time, I completely agree with RMS that the Amazon one-click patent is one more example of an "intellectual property" milieu gone mad.

In the first place, this patent should never have been allowed. It's a completely trivial application of cookies. To characterize it as an "invention" is a parody. Like so many software patents, it is a land grab, an attempt to hoodwink a patent system that has not gotten up to speed on the state of the art in computer science. I'm not completely opposed to software patents since there are some things that do in fact qualify as legitimate "inventions," but when I see people patenting obvious ideas, ideas that are already in wide use, it makes my blood boil.

I also want to say that a patent on something like "one-click ordering" is a slap in the face of Tim Berners-Lee and all of the other pioneers who created the opportunity that Amazon has done such a good job of exploiting. Amazon wouldn't have existed without the generosity of people like Tim who made legitimate, far-reaching inventions and put them out into the public domain for all to build upon. Anyone who puts a small gloss on this fundamental technology, calls it proprietary, and then tries to keep others from building further on it, is a thief. The gift was given to all of us, and anyone who tries to make it their own is stealing our patrimony.

Patents like this are also incredibly short-sighted! The Web has exploded because it was an open platform that sparked countless innovations by users. Fence in that platform, and who knows what opportunities will never come to light?

I urge Amazon to give up on this patent. I am confident that it will eventually be overturned in any case. And in the meantime, Amazon will not only reap a harvest of ill will, they will erode the soil of innovation on the Web. What's more, they are a fierce competitor who has already established a dominant market position. They can win without resorting to cheap tricks.

--Tim

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