As he so often does, +Mike Elgan sums up the whole Apple patent argument very nicely.  I hate the fact that Apple is using the patent law system to try to suppress competition in the market segments it competes in. But I do recognize that Apple, Oracle, Google, Motorola, Intellectual Ventures and countless other tech companies and patent trolls do this because the law as it is written today allows and encourages this behavior. 

I have long criticized the current intellectual property system (both patent and copyright) as outdated and unneeded for the modern world. I criticize the companies despite the fact that they are a symptom rather than the cause because I and other consumers don't have the power to influence the politicians that generally only listen to big corporate donors. 

By refusing to spend my dollars on Apple products (despite the fact that I use existing Apple products like the Macbook Pro I'm writing this on) and encouraging others to do the same, perhaps we can influence Apple and in turn they can influence politicians to change the system.

I know I'm tilting at windmills, but it's really all I can do.  After all we are often told that the only way to influence corporate policies is with our purchasing habits. So let's change our habits until the system changes for the better.
#boycottapple   #boycottthesystem  

Reshared post from +Mike Elgan

Why Apple Sues

Apple’s critics generously assign a variety of motives to Apple for filing lawsuits.

Apple sues because it wants to control the market, overcharge for its products, exclude competitors from the market or punish competitors for daring to not think different. It’s all part of Apple’s “quest for global tech domination.

But these aren’t actual motives. These are appeals to emotion. They’re legitimate perspectives, but expressed to negatively encapsulate spectacularly complex technical, legal and ethical issues into sound bites that make you want to agree with the author that Apple is bad and wrong. 

Apple has only one motive for patent lawsuits, and I’m going to tell you what that motive is: 

http://www.cultofmac.com/187014/why-apple-sues/