GPL is a license agreement attempting to guarantee that software distributed under the license can be freely copied, modified, shared and redistributed. Linux is distributed under GPL.

George's anti-patent idea is that if someone asserts a software patent against a software distributed under GPL 3 (the upcoming version), that someone (company or person) loses the right to distribute the accused infringing product. Don't think about it too much; it'll hurt your head; it's already hurt George's.

George's motivation: "Software patents are clearly a menace to society and innovation. We like this to be more explicit."

In a related tirade, George lashed out at digital rights management (DRM) software, used to enforce copyrights: "We’re fundamentally opposed to DRM. We think it’s a dead end for society."

In the news conference, George just stopped short of using the phrase "capitalist pigs," but left little doubt as to his educational deficit in economics, not to mention his passive-aggressive tendencies.