Patent hit - MS goes after Linux - FreeBSD ?

Chad Perrin perrin at apotheon.com
Thu Aug 2 18:58:00 UTC 2012


On Wed, Aug 01, 2012 at 01:39:21PM +0000, Traiano Welcome wrote:
> >
> >even if not  it's just matter to add proper licence to right ports in
> >port tree and require user to accept it.
> 
> Probably won't even have to do  that. People can download, compile and
> run whatever they want on a base operating system, but as long as the
> base operating system (FreeBSD in our case) remains "legally
> un-encumbered" with patented code, nobody really cares. If individual
> users decide they want to compile and run copyrighted software on
> FreeBSD (or linux) it will be a matter between M$ and the particular
> user in question, not the community providing the base OS and user
> space tools.
> 
> The SCO-IBM  debacle some years ago triggered a huge review of open
> source copyrights in the linux (and *bsd) community. SCO failed to get
> anything back then, and it's hard to imagine how M$ will get anything
> now that  there's broader awareness in "the community" around software
> patent infringement.

Unfortunately, patent law and copyright law are very different
environments.  The truth is that probably every nontrivial piece of
software created infringes several patents, and the only question that
remains is whether those patents would hold up in court under close
scrutiny.  The greater the disparity in legal expertise and funding
behind the two parties, the greater the likelihood that the case will be
found in favor of the party with the greater resources.

This is the reason software patents comprise such a blight on the world
of software development.  Even a frivolous patent that would not hold up
through completion of litigation may serve its purpose by bankrupting a
defendant before the case is concluded.

It is possible that Microsoft is going the way of SCO -- into its grave,
having hung all its hopes on litigation.  Along the way, though, it will
probably do a lot of damage to a lot of people, projects, and businesses,
and I just hope it doesn't get as far as the FreeBSD project or any
FreeBSD users before things come crashing down.

(disclaimer: I am not a lawyer.  This is not legal advice.  Et cetera.)

-- 
Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ]


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