FightThePatent.com calls it quits

[FightThePatent]

Originally posted by Carrie@Feb 9 2004, 08:20 AM

I never understood why you cut off all of your income-generating activities to do this... it's not a full-time job to update a website with some notes and links and go post on a a few boards. That should take half an hour a day maximum, except for days like Friday when something major is going on.

Carrie,

My efforts were more than just posting on boards and writing articles...

I literally spent hours (4-5) a day on the phone tracking down prior art leads, talking to webmasters. Email correspondance, FAX, and email message campaigns.

Trying to convince people in high places to get involved. Trying to convince people who had prior art to come forward to help.

It was truly a full time effort with posting on boards and updating my website with articles taking up the least amount of my time.

If you have ever done an active campaign, whether it be for a cause, political, activism, etc.. you will know that it can consume your time.

So what the 'quits' is about, is that intensive effort. The money part that you didn't like about Fight the Patent Foundation wasn't meant to pay me to make posts and write funny articles, it goes towards proactively dealing with patent abuse cases, starting up grassroots search for prior art, hiring patent attorneys to help make sense of everything, etc... all of this takes money.

I have taken alot of criticism about how FTPF would take money away from IMPA or defendants... and the truth of the matter is, the support for IMPA and the defendants has been so little compared to the size of the webmaster community.

I know that people like you were strong supporters of IMPA and actually did something about it, but you and the others are honestly, rare (and wonderful).

So i will continue to track this absurd patent story and offer my commentary to help make sense (or to offer laughter) of the news and of the absurdity.

-brandon