I’ve been writing an essay (on and off for the last 2 days) on copyright and society and found BoingBoing’s link to the EFF and what they are doing to prevent patent abuse:
In light of growing concerns about illegitimate software and Internet patents, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today announced a new initiative to combat the chilling effects bad patents have on public and consumer interests.
“Patents traditionally only targeted large commercial companies,” said EFF Staff Attorney Jason Schultz. “Now bad patents are threatening non-profits, small businesses, and even individuals who use software and Internet technology.” These threats target non-commercial personal use, such as building a hobbyist website or streaming a wedding video to your friends.
The new EFF initiative seeks to document these threats and fight back against them. EFF has pledged to file “re-examination” requests with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), asking the agency to revoke patents that are having negative effects on Internet innovation and free expression.