Oh, I fully agree that it's evil, it's just that the whole bloody industry pretty much engages in this.

And that isn't an excuse by any stretch of the imagination, it's just that if they didn't they'd be buried in patent lawsuits and they'd have nothing to strike back with except for endless litigation. Typically the big guys cross license and everybody pretends it's fine. Business as usual, sad as it is.

The losers are the smaller innovators.