> "Maybe we can get congress to pass a law, nevermind what am I even thinking."

"a tiny provision in the America Invents Act, the “Patent Reform Act” which, on the face of it, appears to have done absolutely nothing to solve this problem, but if you look closely, there’s a tiny provision in there, which says:

“Any person at any time may cite to the Office in writing prior art consisting of patents or printed publications which that person believes to have a bearing on the patentability of any claim of a particular patent…”

In other words, as of September 16, the USPTO is required to accept submissions from the public of prior art."

The PTO approached SE and asked them to do this as part of their efforts to reform the patent system without waiting for Congress to get around to it.

I bet if an examiner posted each patent application during review, within 24 hours prior art would be posted for each one, most especially software patents.

They already do this; indeed, they are required to do so by law, and indeed, public posting of each patent application is a fundamental part of the patent process. Not many people actually bother to post prior art.