Re:What Next? (Score 1)

This just hastens the end of the patent system. Seriously -- the American patent system is going to fall apart soon, and things like this are the reason.

Exactly the point M$ is shooting for.

Front page, local news paper, future:
Due to the proliferation of inappropriate and indefensible patents issued by the USPTO, the USPTO has been disbanded and the current patent system is null and void. The U.S. attorney general is currently in negotiations with all fifty states attempting to establish an improved system of protecting...

Front page, M1cro$oft, future:
Welcome to the OS of the future. On the outside it looks like the OS you have come to love and admire. On the inside are all the things you have come to depend on. An OS that combines the best of all the major OS's. *nix and @pple on the inside W1ndow$ on the outside. And tools! We have it all! Every major competitor you have come to know and enjoy can be found on W1ndow$ 2008 (code named Pilfer) all for the low price of...

The collapse of the system could be the best thing that ever happened to them. They could legally continue to rip people off and at the same time undercut any competition to the point that they can't keep up...er..o.k., I guess there wouldn't be much change, would there?

Lenina Huxley: Taco Bell was the only restaurant to survive the Franchise Wars.
John Spartan: So?
Lenina Huxley: So, now all restaurants are Taco Bell.
--Demolition Man--