At long last!
Software patents need striking out globally. Actually, the whole patents system should be scrapped until the IPO reform the whole system so that evident patent trolls are fined extortionate amounts of money in the bid to stop the system's parasitic abuse. If you have a vague patent that isn't completely clear it shouldn't ever be passed as a patent, it should be publically thrown out in to a site such as the "Patent Office Hall of Shame" as evidence of how not to write a patent (and entertainment, stick ads in and they'll have another form of income).
I've said to people for years that software patents stifle creativity rather than protect it. Worlds.com are currently trying to suggest they own "System and Method for Enabling Users to Interact in a Virtual Space", essentially, all the same stuff those MMORPGs are made of. They suggest that if they successfully sue Linden Labs (Second Life), they'll go for Blizzard (World of Warcraft) and presumably many others. A classic patent troll.
Hopefully the report actually does a death to software patents but I'll hold my breath until it actually happens.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
