Patents already impeding progress (Score 2, Insightful)

In case you had any doubts, patents are already hurting open source. Daniel Philips describes "patent chill" (fear of infringing on one or more patents) as the main reason for ceasing work on Tux2, a promising, phase-tree based filesystem project.

This is a bad situation getting worse. The problems created by the US patent system being extending to Europe increases the risk of open source being gradually left behind, as new and important ideas are patented throughout most of the western world.

Don't hope for companies to do the "right thing" -- remember they have a moral obligation to their shareholders to develop every possible asset. Free software can only survive if prolonged, exclusive access to critical ideas simply isn't on offer.