Open Source Software and Software Patents: Finding the Common Ground in a Patent Pool

Software patents threaten the future of the OSS community, especially with the increased importance of software standards and the change in attitude in the organizations forming these standards. The OSS community does not exercise much influence over the policymakers who have legitimized software patents because of differences between the two groups' motivations. There are many possible actions the OSS community could take, but an OSS patent pool is the best way for the OSS community to leverage both the patent system and the OSS culture to help protect the future of OSS.