A conference on software patents and free software

It really seems like patents are a problem the free software community can not solve by ignoring them. That just gives the trolls and cartels the room to corner the market, and so become an even bigger threat.

Just as the GPL used copyright against the proprietary software vendors, it seems the free software community needs to consider using the patent system to carve out breathing room for free software. As you say, it could eventually fund itself...