A big donation to the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation will help it fight for software patent reform in the courtroom, as well as educate the public and politicians about its ongoing issues.
Mojang founder (and Minecraft creator) Markus "Notch" Persson doesn't think much of software patent holders. "Trivial patents, such as for software, are counterproductive (they slow down technical advancement), evil (they sacrifice baby goats to baal), and costly (companies get tied up in pointless lawsuits)," he once famously wrote. "If you own a software patent, you should feel bad." Now he's putting his money where his mouth is. Today nonprofit free speech and privacy group the Electronic Frontier Foundation announced that Notch has donated $250,000 to help fight back against software patents. The money will help EFF push for reform in the courtroom as well as educate the public and politicians about the dangers of software patents. "Temporary fixes aren't good enough – we need deep and meaningful reform to protect software development and keep it as free and democratic as possible," said Persson in a statement. "New games and other technological tools come from improving on old things and making them better – an iterative process that the current patent environment could shut down entirely. This is a dangerous path we're on, and I'm glad to help EFF move us in the right direction." More on the EFF website.
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