""You can't patent mathematical formulas and other abstract ideas," says Daniel Nazer, staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "The idea of using an escrow agent in a financial transaction is an abstract idea but Alice's patent says 'do it on a computer' without a lot of the legwork being done," Nazer says."
The Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School is a leader in the study of the law and policy around the Internet and other emerging technologies.