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by ilyt 963 days ago
While "patent troll" might be inaccurate they pretty much stifled the technology development for a decade
3 comments

Calling companies that hold a patent you find valuable and aren't distributing it's use how you personally see fit a "patent troll" isn't just inaccurate, it's an intentional mischaracterization for the purpose of eliciting a negative emotional response solely to spread your narrative. It cheapens the meaning and lowers any engagement to fight for the same cause when you realize it's a facade driven entirely by sour grapes and a lack of understanding of the patent system being criticized.

I guess it's okay here though, because [passionate story about side project idea using eink that could be tinkered on but never actually idealized into something].

That's bullshit though. People always make this claim but never with evidence or a source, or they provide a source that has either been retracted or simply states the same claim without evidence or citation.
That is essentially the entire idea behind patents. They get a limited time of control, the public benefits later. Like it or not, this is how the system is supposed to work.
That's the problem. It is not working. It's great for big companies to stop their competitors, but not for actual innovation.
"I don't like how the system works" and "I blame this company for working in the system" aren't really the same point though.

If the real problem is the first one, then implicitly there is a need to propose something that works better. And that is no obvious (but it's obviously not simple).