Microsoft's file system patent upheld (News.com)

Posted Jan 12, 2006 0:06 UTC (Thu) by Mithrandir (guest, #3031)
In reply to: Microsoft's file system patent upheld (News.com) by mgh
Parent article: Microsoft's file system patent upheld (News.com)

It's an interesting phenomenon that "Freedom" is so often held up as a core value by the United States, and yet it seems to be paradoxically infringed by the institutions charged with upholding that freedom. The United States has always been happy to infringe on the freedom of other nationals (its foreign policy record over the last few decades speaks for itself), but it's interesting how much it has been chipping away at the freedom of its own citicens recently.

Everyone seems to notice this except the American voter. Not that I think their political system would be truly capable of expressing the will of the common man. The dollar has to much influence.

Recently on local radio I heard a report about an Internation Living Quality of Life index:

http://www.internationalliving.com/media/archived_pages
and http://www.internationalliving.com/qol06

The United States falls from the top position it held in this index for 21 years in a row, to take seventh place this year. The United States remains, inarguably, the worlds most convenient place to live. But, International Living is convinced that convenience is not the most important factor in determining any countrys quality of life. Its economic performance over the past year has slowed slightly, but more than that it is the ongoing and increasing infringements of personal freedoms that account primarily for its fall from first place.

Microsoft's file system patent upheld; freedom infringed

Posted Jan 13, 2006 16:55 UTC (Fri) by giraffedata (guest, #1954) [Link]

It's an interesting phenomenon that "Freedom" is so often held up as a core value by the United States, and yet it seems to be paradoxically infringed by the institutions charged with upholding that freedom.

The paradox is much more basic: one man's freedom is another man's bondage. In almost all cases, when you give one person freedom, you take away freedom from someone else.

The FAT patent enforces a freedom of Microsoft to invent things and sell them. Microsoft is a legal metaphor for the various individuals who own stock in Microsoft. The US is very big on protecting business freedoms where they conflict with more personal freedoms; i.e. to best appreciate the freedom that is a core value in US society, you should go into business.

Not that I think their political system would be truly capable of expressing the will of the common man. The dollar has too much influence.

I happen to believe that the dollar does a pretty good job of expressing the will of the common man. In the US, dollars all ultimately come from the common man, and he has quite a bit of say over where they go.