FIRST's patents

[Stuart]

Ok I think that Pavan is trying to convey some of the fear that some of us have over this issue. yes we know that Dean has said that he wants to use the patent to share and spread the ideals of FIRST but . . you know what let me put it in another way


You have an uncle . .lets call him uncle Sean hes an awesome uncle, always tells a joke when you see him, used to always have candy when he came over, dressed funny but hes a great uncle. OK so one day he invites you to his house for dinner, and from the past you know his wife, Aunt Twiggy, is a great cook. You enter the house and imediatly smell the mashed potatoes a meat roast and several other wondeful foods. You all sit down to the table and start to eat. Then Uncle Sean pulls out a glock slaps in a clip, chambers a round, throws it on the table and says, "hey look what I just got. Dont worry I don't plan on using it." you know he wont, but still you are sceared out of your mind.

At least thats how I feel about it( possibly Pavan). you see we come from a state where over 90% of the robotics education and robotics teams are not a part of FIRST (BEST, VEX, GEAR, EARLY) and for reasons other than GP don't plan on becoming part of FIRST. Yes we know that a patent can be used to be a megaphone to share ideas, but it can also become a club to squash competition.

Its the fear of the unknown, and the fear of losing control..


I guess what I would like to see FIRST do, is release the patent to the Public Domain . the idea would still be out there, however we would no longer have this hammer hanging above our heads.