furio - 8:28 pm on Apr 5, 2002 (gmt 0)

But do you guys see where this is going?
<rant>
The Internet is supposed to be free and give even the little guys (us) a level playing field. But could you imagine everytime you wanted to start a website and offer a superior service getting slapped with a lawsuit by some huge company? Google can fight a lawsuit like this, but can you?

Patents are useful, but it seems like these days, they are being used to stifle competition and innovation.
</rant>