Robert_Charlton - 3:34 am on Aug 1, 2011 (gmt 0)

A completely absorbing (and frightening) podcast from Ira Glass of Public Radio International's This American Life on how "patent trolls" operate, how they are affecting software and technology, and how ubiquitous they have become....

When Patents Attack! [thisamericanlife.org]
This American Life
Originally aired 07.22.2011

Why would a company rent an office in a tiny town in East Texas, put a nameplate on the door, and leave it completely empty for a year? The answer involves a controversial billionaire physicist in Seattle, a 40 pound cookbook, and a war waging right now, all across the software and tech industries. We take you inside this war, and tell the fascinating story of how an idea enshrined in the US constitution to promote progress and innovation, is now being used to do the opposite.