Multimedia and Software Patents

               by The League for Programming Freedom

November 3, 1994.  Once again the Compton's multimedia patent has been
rejected.  However the threat posed by software patents remains.  We
are unlikely to be as lucky in the future.  According to Tom Lopez,
president of the Interactive Multimedia Association:

    "... the patent system has cast a cloud over our emerging
    industry, an ambitious and motivated industry which seeks to
    transform the way we play, learn, work, think and communicate."

The League for Programming Freedom is an organization opposed to the
existence of software patents.  Here are some reasons why:

  - Money and the Internet.

    Public key cryptography will be vital to products that use the
    Internet to transfer money.  Unfortunately software patents on
    public key cryptography have obstructed the deployment of the
    necessary public key cryptographic infrastructure.  Today the
    efforts of both the IEEE P1363 and the ANSI X9 working groups --
    industry bodies attempting to define public key encryption
    standards -- have been put on hold as a result of legal infighting
    between RSADSI and Cylink -- holders of patents on public key
    cryptography.  When this dispute is resolved it will still be
    necessary to pay royalties to these firms to make use of this
    infrastructure.

  - Microsoft.

    For companies to succeed it is vital to develop products capable
    of interoperating with products developed by Microsoft.  Microsoft
    will find it trivial to acquire software patents to prevent this.

  - Royalties to IBM.

    Companies like IBM, and AT&T will be the main beneficiaries of
    software patents.  These companies are not very good at developing
    software to fulfill the needs of the end user.  Instead they
    simply patent every technique they might encounter.  This clutters
    the landscape and creates problems for other companies.  IBM will
    be able to use very strong software patent portfolios to extract
    significant royalties and block competition by the rest of the
    industry.

  - Legalized extortion.

    Patent infringement lawsuits made by people outside the industry
    are becoming an increasingly serious threat.  Nintendo was
    recently ordered to pay $208 million to the bankrupt Alpex
    Computer Corporation.  Alpex holds a patent on video games that
    make use of rotating screen images.  Novell has been facing a $220
    million dollar law suit for patent infringement by Roger Billings.
    Billings claims to have a patent covering the concept of a file
    server.

  - Increased uncertainty and risk in developing products.

    Software patents introduce a lot of uncertainty into the software
    development process.  It is impossible to know if technology being
    invested in might be in the process of being patented, or exactly
    what these patents might cover, or if the patents would stand up
    in court.  One area where this is of crucial concern today is the
    World Wide Web.  Right now we don't know if some company has filed
    key patents that will cover the use of Web technology.  If this is
    the case, the investment various companies are currently making in
    this area could be for nought.

Software patents are harmful to those companies focused on delivering
innovative solutions to the market place.  The wealth of these
companies is transfered to market place failures and companies and
individuals that merely seek to speculate on the future directions of
technology.

Because of the numerous problems with software patents, a number of
Silicon Valley's most innovative companies have adopted public
policies opposed to software patents.  These companies include Adobe,
Autodesk, Oracle, Synopsis, and Wind River Systems.  In addition,
senior executives within a number of other companies are known to be
equally concerned by the current situation.

Summary:

  - In the current legal climate, innovative market driven companies
    are being forced to expend valuable resources to try and defend
    themselves from the threat of software patents.

  - The more software patents filed the worse the situation becomes.
    The clearest way out of the current situation involves companies
    opposed to software patents formulating and adopting public
    policies that oppose their continued issuance.

The League for Programming Freedom seeks to provide information to
assist companies in formulating public policies on software patents.
For such assistance or for further information please contact the
League for Programming Freedom.

    Email:  lpf@uunet.uu.net

    Phone:  (617) 621 7084

    Post:   League for Programming Freedom
            1 Kendall Square #143
            P.O. Box 9171
            Cambridge, MA 02139