Z:gnu-www-ja-patent-practice-panel--92edbe-And so the question is, then,/en

And so the question is, then, does a patent system have a net-beneficial effect or a net-detrimental effect on software development? I think we've seen already it only decreases the ability for open-source or royalty-free license software to compete with proprietary software. In the end you have to ask, is less competition beneficial for the software industry? I don't know what Europeans think about that, I think Europeans are very pro-competition and I know us on the other side of the Atlantic are very pro-competition as well, and so the answer is never less competition is better for consumers. And so I think as we bring the point home, if we had two seconds in an elevator to pitch this idea to someone, software patents have a net-negative effect on competition in the software industry.