The war is over. We lost.

You leave the World Health Organization out of this.

You're thinking of Oobi?

Still really cool, but my original reality was much more awesome. I would have loved to break the sound barrier when I was 11.

I'd like to question the constitutionality of a lot more than just how it was signed.

0100010001010011 = DS? I don't get it (DropShip?), but it doesn't seem like coincidence (multiple of 8 bits, both uppercase ASCII chars).

If you're just implementing a MP3 decoder (which is all Firefox would need to do to play MP3 files) then you might not have patent issues even today: http://lwn.net/Articles/166346/

It's a shame the Slashdot article didn't link to any sources.

Variable-lifetime patents already exist to a certain extent (utility patents vs. design patents). But it would be interesting to extend the idea further.

As long as we can make arbitrary changes to patent law, I think the most valuable thing you could do is to mandate a periodic investigation into whether or not the current policies encourage innovation. Are algorithm patents slowing down innovation? Shorten their duration by a few years/be stricter about what you accept.

I can only imagine the punishment you have in mind for a frivolous lawsuit.

They're only giving credibility to the tinfoil hat (underwear?)-wearing crowd.

Off topic, but the aegidian.org link in your sig seems to be down. http://www.oolite.org/ appears to be the current webpage (fellow fan of oolite here).