Re: Charging the Charger

>>>>> "Laurent" == Laurent GUERBY <[email protected]> writes:

    Laurent> On Mon, 2005-05-16 at 13:46 +0900, Stephen J. Turnbull
    Laurent> wrote:

    >> [...] You just aren't going to beat this Holmes et cie. on
    >> general principles---you have to get into the nitty gritty of
    >> empirical SME economics, and that is going to be expensive and
    >> time-consuming.  This guy Holmes has done his homework, and
    >> done it well.  The fast track for OSS is going to be to show
    >> that the benefits to SMEs can be achieved _without_ patents
    >> [...]

    Laurent> European SME themselves have been polled about the
    Laurent> issues. Of course that doesn't count, that's not real
    Laurent> economics,

Exactly.  You asked Marshall for economics because you were worried
about the testimony of the "expert" economist.  I looked at his work,
and I assured you he is *expert*, not "expert".  I didn't say I agree
with him, I said he's a dangerous opponent and that I think that
demonstrating how to build a healthy SME sector without patents is the
best way to beat him.

    Laurent> those SME entrepreneurs don't know what they're talking
    Laurent> about...

They do; but they're talking about what's good for their own
businesses, not what's good for the European economy, or even for the
SME sector as a whole.

Note also that Holmes himself is not in favor of the current system,
but that's what the poll respondents are talking about as you describe
the polls.  So Holmes can argue that their complaints don't apply with
the same force to his proposed more-or-less reformed system.  Again, I
don't necessarily agree with him, but I can predict that those are
arguments that anti-patent forces will need to deal with.


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