A conference on software patents and free software

Was there any discussion of how to protect your *users* from patent assertions or at least "racketeering," as in MSFT & TomTom, MSFT & Amazon, MSFT & HTC, etc. It seems to be MSFT's major legal front against Linux: backroom patent deals with the larger users: "It'd be a *shame* if anyone were granted an injuction against your continued use of Linux...."