IP

IP in Computer Science has always been a sore spot for me.  I've been doing entrepreneurial software development for a few years, and have received different counsel all across the board as to what my approach to it should be.  I've taken the stance that software patents are often unnecessary and actually hinder creativity (where as the point of patents is to foster creativity by forcing people to come up with new ideas).  Nothing we make in software development we make solely on our own.  Every bit of software is built on something someone else has written, all the way down to the original computer punch cards.  The only reason we're able to make cool things is thanks to those who made cool things before us.  I feel like we should keep our accomplishments as open as possible, and much of the licensing used in Open Source Software resembles this fact, in getting people to acknowledge that they're working together, and to agree to do it more.