14 Sep
2000
14 Sep
'00
12:13 p.m.
At 11:44 PM 9/13/00 -0400, you wrote:
Have the patents that cover Halon expired? I've
heard that Freon (which
used to be covered by patents) isn't nearly as dangerous as it's made out to
be, and that the recent legislation to have it banned came about just after
the patents expired (and thus the major chemical companies would actually
face competition).
It isn't patents, it is the CFC treaty (Osaks?) that bans the production
(first) and then use (second) of CFCs based on their alleged, but unproven,
impact on the ozone layer surrounding the earth. Note that I do not dispute
that there is a gap in the ozone layer around the earth, only that no one
has yet given anything more than conjecture on why it exists, and since we
don't have historical data on its existence (or lack thereof) we don't yet
have anyway of proving or disproving said conjectures, but something that
_was_ a provable way of saving _actual human lives_ was banned because of
it. </soapbox>
--Chuck