The United States Patent Office, which normally only hands out patents for unique processes, invented by the patenter and nobody else, that are non-obvious to some level, has apparently admended those requirements in such a way that as soon as you tack the word "Internet" onto a patent application, it's guaranteed to be granted. (One wonders why the USPO took two years to grant the Amazon patent when it was a done deal that they would grant it.) Now you can patent business models, Internet gizmos that a competent high school senior could design in a day and implement in a week, or just patent entire concepts at a shot, like 'affliate programs' or 'one-click shopping'.