Patents: Not always a virtue

Open source software has changed the world more than many of us know. Linux is the most widely used operating system in the world, without the majority of us using it on our own computers. Created by Linus Torvold, the software succeeded through the cooperation provided from a wide-ranging community, all contributing to improve the code. By having the project as a non-profitable, open source system, anyone, anywhere could help contribute to the code. This ethos is in stark contrast to the use of patents, which has been dominant in 20th century society.

Take a look at the way Microsoft was running it’s Windows empire. Both Windows and Apple’s IOS were built on the back of patents. You might think that Windows and IOS won the battle for operating systems. However, this is untrue. Linux is the backbone of much of the computing architecture we use today. The majority of the internet runs upon it.

The debate over the use of patents runs on to this day. There are two basic sides to this argument. One side believe that if someone creates something, they deserve to be compensated before everyone can modify that technology. The other side believe that by restricting the use of new technologies through patents, progress can become much slower. This isn’t just an issue in the tech world. Within pharmaceuticals, a big pharma company can have the monopoly on a life-saving drug and charge extremely high (extortionate) prices. They argue that the profits made from patents are reinvested back into research and they can then find new medicine.

Within cryptocurrencies, the majority of projects are open source, and anyone with the skill and dedication can help work on them. Therefore, the debate over patents is rather small. That is, until you get to Bitcoin SV and Craig Wright’s fork of Bitcoin Cash. Wright has been extremely vocal about the amount of patents he is working on. He has gone as far as to claim that he aims to overtake Thomas Edison with his number of patents.

If Bitcoin is similar to Linux, Wright’s BSV is akin to emulating Bill Gates and Windows. There is one slight problem, though. Wright isn’t Gates. Wright is a clown. Let’s just say Wright is to succeed (which he won’t). What would be created is an even more centralised version of Bitcoin run solely by the team at nChain. Were Wright to win in his battle, you would have a coin that emulates everything wrong with the current financial system, bar monetary easing.

Patents are not going anywhere in the near future. Watching Craig Wright’s patent crusade within cryptocurrencies is yet another clear sign that he has lost the plot. Poor fella.