Open/Free Licenses (was: propose: `cypherpunks license' (Re: Wanted: Twofish source code))

[Richard Stallman]

It is possible to "deed a patent to the public".  If you want to get a
patent but tell the public you will never enforce it, that is a way to
do it.  If someone has a patent and wants to deed it to the public,
I can find a lawyer who will tell you how.

It is also possible in the US to get a "defensive patent", which is
not really a patent, but an explicit registration with the PTO of the
fact that you have an idea and make it public.  This ought to help the
incompetent US PTO avoid issuing a patent on the idea to someone else.
This is much cheaper than getting a real patent, and the criteria
are much simpler.