Over the last year or so, we've heard a lot about how software patents, which became legal in the U.S. in 1981, stifle innovation. James Bessen and Eric Maskin conducted a study showing that ``far from unleashing a flurry of new . . .
Over the last year or so, we've heard a lot about how software patents, which became legal in the U.S. in 1981, stifle innovation. James Bessen and Eric Maskin conducted a study showing that ``far from unleashing a flurry of new innovative activity, these stronger property rights ushered in a period of stagnant, if not declining R&D among those industries and firms that patented most''. And a legal minefield of intersecting patents threatens all software development, free or proprietary. Where the software patent mess intersects with important basic security work such as encryption, software patents interfere with the spread of best practices and can be a major security problem.

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