This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Agile Buzz by James Robertson. Original Post: Protecting investment??? Feed Title: Cincom Smalltalk Blog - Smalltalk with Rants Feed URL: http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/rssBlog/rssBlogView.xml Feed Description: James Robertson comments on Cincom Smalltalk, the Smalltalk development community, and IT trends and issues in general. Latest Agile Buzz Posts Latest Agile Buzz Posts by James Robertson Latest Posts From Cincom Smalltalk Blog - Smalltalk with Rants

In this arena, Scoble just doesn't get it. Is this protecting anything? Now to be fair, MS is simply following the rest of the industry here, and building up a portfolio of defensive patents, ready to be deployed should another Eolas pop up to do damage. That doesn't jive with what Scoble is saying though:

Our patent system is in place to encourage investment in new technologies. And, despite how you feel about Microsoft, Microsoft's 57,000 employees are a real investment in new technologies. The same system protects the investments that Apple, Yahoo, eBay, IBM, Google, and scores of other companies are making in their software.

This is protection of the sort offered by gangsters in 30's flicks. Would it be asking too much for a company with as much clout as MS to take something that vaguely resembled a leadership position on this?