The bad rap on so-called "patent trolls" is nicely countered in this 2/1/10 Business Week article by Ron Epstein.
My exerience in this area supports Ron's arguments, as was summarized in my 2008 post "'The Six Phases of a Technology Flop' ...Patents, and Plan B".
"Everything is deeply intertwingled" – Ted Nelson’s insight that inspired the Web. People can be smarter about dealing with that - in media services, social media, AI, and society and life more broadly. Technology can augment that -- most notably as the Augmented Wisdom of Crowds (see the Selected Items tab below). The former name, “Reisman on User-Centered Media” still applies: open and adaptable to each user's needs and desires – and sharing in the value they create for users.