The patent system as it relates to software and the web and mobile apps is broken. It doesn’t work. It doesn’t protect the right people and it’s being used by the wrong people for what amounts to extortion.

Oh, I’m sorry — you didn’t know that? Just my opinion, you say? Yes. My opinion. And I’m not an attorney, so what do I know. Ask me in person and I’ll tell you some stories of what I know. But not on this blog.

And I don’t know diddly about patents and patent situations regarding real inventions, formulas, drugs, manufactured hard goods, or any of that. Do those people have trolls too? I don’t know.

But I really liked this quick (5 minutes or so) true story that I found over the weekend, browsing TED.com