I have to respectfully disagree with +Mike Elgan about #boycottapple
Mike is right that corporations are bound by fidicuary responsibility to make as much money for their shareholders as they can within the limits of the law. If we assume that the patent law situation is not going to change then what Apple is doing by trying squash their competition in the courts is the right thing.
However, I think we need to look at this from a broader perspective. Changing intellectual property law can only be done by Congress. Unfortunately our legislators are largely in the pocket of the big corporations that benefit the most from the current IP structure so that means nothing will change unless those corporations decide it needs to change.
But how will that happen you might ask. The only way that these companies will ever change their stance is when it hurts their bottom line to maintain the status quo. That will only happen if consumers stop subsidising this behavior by not buying these products.
If we look at the companies that are abusing the current system, non-practising entities (aka patent trolls) don't make anything to boycott and it appears that the market is already boycotting Microsoft and Nokia for other reasons. Android companies including Samsung, Motorola and HTC are only using patents to defend themselves agains the likes of Apple and Microsoft.
That means the only means we have of changing the direction of intellectual property law is to stop buying from the companies that benefit from it most notably Apple. If Apple starts to believe that persuing patent suits cost them more than lobbying for changes in the law, then they will push for change.
Then and only then will things change.
#patents
Reshared post from +Mike Elgan
Why the ‘Boycott Apple’ movement is dumb.
The #BoycottApple hashtag was trending hard on Google+ last week. The call to boycott is based on Apple’s attempts to ban both the Samsung Galaxy Nexus phone and the Galaxy 10.1 tablet.
Here’s why the call for a boycott is misguided and futile:
http://www.cultofmac.com/177786/why-the-boycott-apple-movement-is-dumb/
(Pic props to +Phlash Tha)
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Post imported by Google+Blog. Created By Daniel Treadwell.
The question would be then: Does Apple support patent reform? If #boycottapple is not the real issue but patent reform. Sound like the general changing of subject you do when you're on the losing end of an argument.
Oddly enough I am avoiding Apple products but for completely different reasons. As far as all the patent battles go I am not too bothered, perhaps because it all adds to the rich tapestry of law which I study. What has really annoyed me is the fact that their machines are getting ever less environmentally friendly and ever more elitist.
+Brendan Thesingh I would expect that Apple probably didn't care about patent reform under Steve Jobs but now under Tim Cook consumers could potentially force a change in that stance buy not buying
The url alone makes that entire article humorously pointless.
Sam, do you think Apple cares about those consumers? There are so many who have drank the Kool Aid?
+Brendan Thesingh at this point I would say that Apple almost certainly couldn't care less what people think as long as they continue to pull in 80% of all the profits in the cell phone business. However, what's life without some tilting at windmills? If no one tries to a create a better world, how will we ever get there?
+Ro Atkinson "their machines are getting ever less environmentally friendly and ever more elitist" <– Which are your arguments?
I see some truth to both sides. And it's rather ironic I guess I'm paying attention to this hashtag on my Macbook. 😉 I prefer Android to iPhone and this has made me pause if I really want my next computer to be a Mac. However I'm probably 2 years away from a new computer and by then I will have calmed down. Besides, I ordered my Galaxy Nexus earlier this evening.