Red Hat CEO On Patent Trolls: Just Pay Them Off 167
jbrodkin writes "Although Red Hat fights patent lawsuits when it deems it necessary, CEO Jim Whitehurst says it's often just better to pay the trolls to make them go away. 'When it's so little money, at some point, bluntly, it's better to settle than fight these things out,' Whitehurst said. Red Hat has been forced to pay out claims to the likes of FireStar Software and Acacia, and Whitehurst indicated Red Hat has paid off various other companies behind closed doors. 'Some of them are [public] but we often seal them in settlement,' he said."
Is this the elusive Step 2? (Score:5, Funny)
Phase 1: Collect Underpants
Phase 2: Sue Red Hat for an amount not too big, but not too small and get paid to shut up and go away.
Phase 3: Profit