The information below shows what a ridiculous state the U.S. patent system has gotten itself into, and a good demonstration of why we must resist European software patents.
For years, there have been a handful of companies trying to figure out how to erect a toll booth on the Web, if not the Internet altogether. In other words, they've been looking for some way to ensure that the Internet or some portion thereof can't work unless they get to collect a royalty on the majority of the Internet's traffic. Now, if a patent infringement suit filed by IBM against Amazon.com holds up in court, Big Blue may have finally found a way to collar the Web (or most of it). It may be a decade before we know the answer.
Source: ZDNet.com
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