I'm simply not convinced that the concept of an update button acting on the Internet was innovative - not when I could have sat down in high school and worked it out in a day, and when the very concept of an Internet makes it obvious. And yes, I was doing software in 1992 (finished college in '88), so I think I understand pretty damn well what was innovative at the time.
[Edit on re-reading: I couldn't have sat down in high school and done this in a day because I had never heard of the Internet in 1980-1984, but I could have made it work against Compuserve.]
This, like every other "patent on three hours' work", is nothing more than parasitic rent-seeking behavior, and it is anathema to the vitality of our economy. Lodsys should be deeply ashamed of trying to present this as a "solution" when they clearly simply want to profit from the work of others.
[Edit on re-reading: I couldn't have sat down in high school and done this in a day because I had never heard of the Internet in 1980-1984, but I could have made it work against Compuserve.]
This, like every other "patent on three hours' work", is nothing more than parasitic rent-seeking behavior, and it is anathema to the vitality of our economy. Lodsys should be deeply ashamed of trying to present this as a "solution" when they clearly simply want to profit from the work of others.