I think this is the result of a trend away from the previous conviction of pretty much everyone in tech that patents on software are an awful idea.
Is the community changing towards a demographic intent on striking it rich, instead of the previous morals of openness? There are also more condemnation of, for example, the GPL now than there have been in the past.
So, for a while, everyone in upper management will continue with such policies as Facebook's, since they came up at a time where patents where anathema. We'll see if this changes when today's entry-level programmers climb the ranks–or if their views change over time, or if the latter selects for people of certain opinions.
Is the community changing towards a demographic intent on striking it rich, instead of the previous morals of openness? There are also more condemnation of, for example, the GPL now than there have been in the past.
So, for a while, everyone in upper management will continue with such policies as Facebook's, since they came up at a time where patents where anathema. We'll see if this changes when today's entry-level programmers climb the ranks–or if their views change over time, or if the latter selects for people of certain opinions.