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A dicussion of Blackboard, free software, and patents.

I think that given what the free open source community has achieved especially in the short term, project wise, it is plain to see one does not need to invest $100 million dollars to develop a course management system. For Blackboard to break even on their costs and make a profit, I would suspect that Blackboard’s CMS features a rather large price tag (note you don’t actually own what you paid for, you get a license to use it under their terms and restrictions). I personally thus do not support Blackboard on this matter because it’s interest in developing a patent portfolio (funny name; seem to be the next new thing…?) conflicts especially with free software projects that aim to make the world a better place by providing quality education tools and not make supernormal profits.

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Read more from this blogger: Update on Blackboard’s new patent