Pieter Hintjens
CEO of iMatix

I have been doing software R&D for 20-25 years. Software patents are a nightmare for myself and for all independent software researchers. We find ourselves in the position of no longer owning the result of our labours. Software patents are expropriation, the taking-by-force of copyrighted works using dubious legalistic tools. As for the argument that software patents promote progress... I've still to see a single example where that is the case. Quite the opposite is true: the patentability of ideas creates unjustified monopolies and kills progress. Software patents make my business - software innovation - dangerous and ultimately impossible.