i should use the law and economics book i'm reading to come up with a proposed solution to the patent problem in the US right now. I also want to create a proposal for allowing people to sell the right to a certain percentage of their future earnings, to be collected or verified by the IRS. Would a contract like that already be possible or would it require new laws to be passed?

Steve Wozniak on patents:

I do worry about patents but that's another issue. Some are too general and we need a procedure to assign costs to patents that are violated that are not like all or none. If you violate a patent on a method to unlock a device, a committee could decide how much more an alternative approach would have cost (or cost you in market sales) but not have the value be unlimited or sales halted. Regardless, patents are important and so is your word not to break them when you buy a product.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5926688/

Misc Links:

In new case, Supreme Court revisits the question of software patents
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/ ... story.html
- I haven't read this yet, but after skimming it it looks like it may give a useful history of patents in Silicon Valley

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