Software patents and intellectual property

This is awesome and frightening to me at the same time.

The end may be in sight for software patents—which have long been highly controversial in the tech industry—in the wake of a remarkable appeals court ruling that described such patents as a “deadweight loss on the nation’s economy” and a threat to the First Amendment’s free speech protections....Pointing out that intellectual property monopolies can limit free speech, Mayer notes that copyright law has built-in First Amendment protections such as “fair use” and that patent law must include similar safeguards. He suggests that the safeguard comes in the form of a part of the Patent Act, known as “Section 101,” which says some things—including abstract ideas—simply can’t be patented in the first place.

Link 

I work for a company that relies heavily HEAVILY on software patents. Personally, I believe in the idea of intellectual property only covering things that move an industry forward and protect the initial investment only of research and development. It has be come a cash cow and is a laughing stock. Something has to be done. I don't want to loose my job though.

I'm torn.