[kwantam]

I don't know if the writer of this article is ignorant or cynical (leaning towards the latter), but spinning section 18 as fair takes a healthy dose of one or both. Section 18, at its root, is another attempt to invalidate a handful of patents owned by DataTreasury because their existence is expensive for a few financial institutions.

"Patent reform," in this case, means "pay us^H^H^H^H^H^Hdonate a lot of money and we'll pass a special law to try and invalidate an inconvenient patent."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DataTreasury#Ballard_patents

Note: I'm not arguing one way or another about the validity of these patents. Even if they're invalid, passing a law specifically targeting them and claiming that it's somehow a fair attempt at patent reform is insanity.