James Gleick on the Patent Crisis
Saturday, March 11, 2000 by Dave Winer.
A pointer 
By James Gleick, this is the best piece I have read on the patent crisis.
http://www.around.com/patent.html
"One thing is certain: the modern Internet entrepreneur is not a species in need of extra government incentives. If one-click ordering had not been patentable, surely Jeff Bezos would have invented it anyway in May 1997, put it to work in September 1997, seen it copied in subsequent years by Barnes and Noble and thousands of other Internet merchants, learning from his success, to the overall benefit of consumers. Surely he would have become a very rich man; and his future success would depend on his ability to continue outperforming his competitors, and to continue innovating."
It's also running in today's NY Times.
If you read one article on the subject read this one.
Outstanding.