I think the whole YC gang is going to promote this aggressively, which means a strong network effect. Remains to been seen what happens outside this network.
Well, Stripe is not YC, but your argument makes sense. I don't know how others are supposed to take this pledge "officially" other than by posting a blog post and emailing pg however. Maybe there's a secret cabal that of startup people use as a channel to converse anyways though ;)
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These companies have agreed to be the first to publicly renounce aggressive use of software patents on small companies. Please join them!
A Thinking Ape, Airbnb, Bump, CarWoo, DailyBooth, Disqus, DotCloud, Greplin, Hipmunk, Justin.tv, Loopt, Songkick, Stripe, Weebly, Wepay
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I think the whole YC gang is going to promote this aggressively, which means a strong network effect. Remains to been seen what happens outside this network.