Good Riddance to NZ Software Patents

Software patents seem like a good way of protecting innovators and their ideas but function in practice as a threat to innovation. Especially harmed are the smaller players in the marketplace, ironically those most likely to generate exciting new developments. It looks like sanity has prevailed in New Zealand (fingers crossed) with software patents being effectively banned. This welcome development is thanks to concerted lobbying by New Zealand software developers. Special thanks go to David Lane (President of the New Zealand Open Source Society), Guy Burgess (lawyer and software developer) and Paul Matthews (IITP). Although vigilance is required as the new laws are implemented, we can all rightly celebrate.