
New Zealand Politicians Want To Explicitly Outlaw Software Patents - ra
http://techdirt.com/articles/20100330/1852558798.shtml
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stcredzero
Smart move, if the government makes startup immigration easy and invests in
colleges and network infrastructure. Perhaps New Zealand might become a haven
for Open development and innovation?

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ZeroGravitas
If you're interested in what's happening in New Zealand you might enjoy this
presentation given by Don Christie of Catalyst IT about shifting the
government desktops to linux and all the related issues around this:

<http://2009.r2.co.nz/20100118/50026.htm>

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Devilboy
What would this do to existing software patents in NZ?

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joe_the_user
Invalidate them, I assume.

Keep in mind patents _can_ be considered a license granted by the government
rather than a form of property. Thus invalidating a patent would not involve a
taking of property from a private owner.

Of course, I don't know whether the New Zealand has a constitution or whether
that constitution prohibits the taking of property without compensation.

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TeHCrAzY
NZ are a bit strange with regards to their "constitution". Check out the wiki
link for an explanation:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_New_Zealand>

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brehaut
USA are a bit strange with regards to their "democracy". Check out the wiki
link for an explanation:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_the_United_States>

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TeHCrAzY
I didn't write that particularly well. My apologies; I was trying to convey
that the concept of constitution was somewhat different there (That the word
"constitution" is somewhat of a misnomer).

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brehaut
No worries, thanks for the apologies. In hindsight it was snarkier than i
intended

