I hate Scientology and all other religious cults (i.e. "religions") as much as the next rational person, but
It's ironic that you have to make slashdots equivalent of the sign of the cross so that you aren't modded down as a heretic for your subsequent words. Slashdot canon if you will.
We are all members of one cult or another as we can't escape indoctrination - except maybe for those dumped in a forest at the age of four and raised by wolves. I know this because most of us slip into the cogs of western society like those that went before us. There is a place in the machine for everyone.
That you proclaim yourself as rational makes me skeptical of you but I could be wrong, maybe I should have taken a chance and read the rest of your post, but I couldn't get past slashdots bigoted received wisdom on this occasion.
I often hear Android fans say that they refuse to buy Apple as a sign of disapproval, so how about not clicking on these stories for the same reason?
Besides that wasn't event the point I was making: which is that it's just possible that Samsung's invocation of the law has no element of retribution to it, i.e. its just yet more dickish behavior from another mega-cap. I'm making that point because there is a lot of cheerleading of Samsung on slashdot over this action (because it's directed at Apple) when maybe we should be condemning them for going down the same path as Apple.
You see another theory would be that Samsung are just acting dickishly in the name of their own shareholders regardless of earlier dickish behavior from Apple.
Maybe you have some argument as to why Apple _should_ be seen as the aggressor, but if so you haven't presented it here, you've merely asserted that it's the case. Then again why should you go to the trouble of presenting an argument, after all there isn't a great deal of that around here
Samsung, Motorola and other old players in the telecoms game have a huge problem today because for many years they have been playing reasonably nice with each other.
You say playing nice, but I prefer to use the word colluding. The status quo always used to be that the previous incumbents would royally shaft their cash cow customers, by contrast we have a lot more choice today. Whether that is due to Android or Apple I don't particularly care, all I know is that it has changed.
The solution isn't to perpetuate the patent system any further with these anti competitive FRAND sticking plasters, it's to put pressure on reforming the whole patent system, getting rid of software patents entirely. The entry fee into any expanded club FRAND will be exorbitant enough so that those big players who are already members can keep new starters out. Only companies that aren't doing very well today would want that.
All you have done is go off on a hateful rant with nothing to back up those rantings, you have to explain why one company should have to forced to share it's own shitty patents with everybody else. What you've done is made an attack at the patent system and tried to attach Apples name to this uniquely, your words could apply equally to any of the major players. For example does google share its search patents with everybody? I don't know the answer to that but I don't see anybody looking into it round here either.
Does anybody else find it weird when supposedly intelligent people don't even _try_ to see all companies in the same light? That sort of blinkered view must spill out into other areas of thinking, in a way that must hurt reasoning skills.
Remember, UNIX spelled backwards is XINU. -- Mt.