Email isn't patented, not it the web, nor is TCP/IP, nor is any one of dozens of non-patented inventions you use on a daily basis. If TCP/IP was patented, do you think you'd see the Internet as we know it today? Would NetFlix, or Wikipedia or even Google would exist in the form it is now? I don't think so.

edit: removed the "that's ridiculous" comment. I'm sorry, you aren't ridiculous, nor is your comment. That showed you a great deal of disrespect, and I was out of line. I hope you can accept this apology. My disagreement with your argument should never have led to disrespectful comments.

(I just hit the up vote arrow)

I think some of my other comments have this language in them. That's unfortunate, it's just this is just the first one I noticed.