Patent Absurdity
The movie Patent Absurdity is based on a series of interviews conducted during the Supreme Court’s review of »in re Bilski« — a case that could have profound implications for the patenting of software in the US. The most impressive movie part is the acoustical demonstration (27:45–28:33) of Richard Stallman’s illustration (16:26–17:45) of what would have happened to Beethoven’s symphony when they have had patents on musical elements in Beethoven’s times.
The movie was released unter CC BY-ND license allowing copying and (commercial) usage, but disallow publication of derivative works. The movie can be watched here or downloaded here in free OGG format. Subtitles are partly available here. [via–via–via]
Supreme Court has decided: “Today the Court missed an opportunity to send a strong signal that ideas are not patentable subject matter. The Court’s rejection of Bilski’s patent application got rid of a symptom of the disease, but failed to treat the real cause by reconfirming that thought and thought processes are not patentable.”