Once you accept the framework of software patents and all its implication, you have embarked on the project of dividing up the "digital commons".
And to do that, you just need an "alliance of the willing" - ie, you first gather together the muscle power needed to control the turf and then divide the spoils. There's no idealism and no distinction between patent troll and "real company" once the company is playing the intellectual property game.
Once you accept the framework of software patents and all its implication, you have embarked on the project of dividing up the "digital commons".
And to do that, you just need an "alliance of the willing" - ie, you first gather together the muscle power needed to control the turf and then divide the spoils. There's no idealism and no distinction between patent troll and "real company" once the company is playing the intellectual property game.