Thunderdog, Originally patents were used to encourage development of stuff that would not have been developped otherwise due to the high costs involved (eg medicines) and what was for the benefit of mankind. These days it is being used for extortion. The exhorbitant prices being charged are out of whack in regards to the development costs. The present system does not work towards the benefit of mankind, and is not in spirit of the original purpose of patents. What I tried to point out is that it is hurting the standing of the US in the global economy. It will be only a matter of time before the US equity markets are being taken over by China. (and that is not a matter of IF but a matter of WHEN. The Chinese think on a timeframe that the westerners do not and that is their strength.) Maria PS Liberalism is another matter that is weakening the US society and hence economy. There is a huge cost involved in that, due to the overheads required to cater for all the different factions.
here's the article link you were after http://www.futuresmag.com/library/2005/09/05_0905trendlines.pdf
The original posting said it all: an injunction preventing TT to remove X-trader from their seats. RCG does not want to have their business disrupted by Harris while they are disagreeing over the patent and are fighting it in the courts. Similarly for the others it was easier to agree to pay up and pass the costs on to the customer. Sherlock
TT probably tried to pull the X_Trader plug like they did with Refco/RTS. www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=45916 www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=48983 www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=49661
Interesting to see that Europe has thrown out patenting of software. So all those that want to use a DOM and don not want to be held to ransom can now move the the "old community". And if the exchanges in Europe do shape up then the US may well find itself being "out traded" (or should I say "out classed"). Thanks to Harris the whole of the trading industry in the US is now under threat. Well done, single handed destroys a whole industry, unbelievable, only happens in the US. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4655955.stm
I think that's overstating things a bit since he has shown plenty of willingness to license the idea. The exchanges (CME and CBOT) are hiking their fees left and right by more than the licensing fees harris has proposed, are they also destroying the whole industry?
oh yeah and that bill that was rejected was simply to make it easier to get patents in Europe in the future. TT has already obtained its patents under existing European law.