Stupid software patents! Gar gar gar! Aren't you sick of the bullshit!? I know I am. So let's get one of OUR SIDE onto the government's Patent Advisory Committee.

Hey, freedom-loving citizen! While you sleep, software patents are stomping all over your freedom to write, use, and share software. Companies that hold patents are crunching down on Free Software and end-user usage of common Internet file formats like MP3 and GIF. Not to mention the heinous misuse of software patents by Web companies like Amazon to stifle competition and prevent innovation. Gar gar gar!

Even though there's been lots of clamor, the Patent Office has been pretty much deaf to the cries of freedom-lovers everywhere. Enough! I say. It's time we got one of our own into the thick of things.

It turns out that there's a Patent Advisory Committee at the USPTO. The nominations are open to the public, which means with a little organizing we could get someone friendly to the cause into one of the seats. IMAGINE THAT! A man (or woman) on the inside, sitting at the meetings where patent decisions are made. We have a chance to appoint a Freedom Fighter to the federal Star Chamber, and stop the hemorraghing of software patents into the world! Beaujolais!

The link below is to a document specifying how to nominate someone for the job. I dunno about you, but a simple EMAIL seems like a particularly easy way to do it. All you have to do is send email to nicholas.flagler@uspto.gov with the following information:

• Name of the nominee
• Brief description of their qualifications
• Resume (URL or text)

That's it! Two minutes! There are any number of people who would be good for the job; some folks who have been particularly vocal about software patents and freedom include the following:

• Richard Stallman, head of the GNU project and the League for Programming Freedom His home page is here.
• Eric Raymond, the Open Source guy. His resume is here.
• Tim O'Reilly, big kahuna at O'Reilly and Associates who recently had a big ol' dialog with Jeff Bezos about the Amazon patent. His bio is here.
• Don Marti, king of Burn All Gifs and patent agitator extraordinaire. His resume is here.

If you're a friend of freedom, you NEED to take this opportunity to nominate freedom-friendly people to the Patent Advisory Committee. You need to act NOW, though, because nominations close on Friday, 4/28/2000. That's this FRIDAY! So go there, spend a couple of minutes composing an email, and strike a blow for Freedom!

Up the Jihad!

Check it out yourself

burton@pigdog.org