[Tfug] Microsoft reportedly wants open source software users to pa y rolyalties

[Jeremy D Rogers]

On 5/17/07, christopher floess <skeptikos at gmail.com> wrote:
> Ok, I can't help but think that any credibility of this patent infringement
> stuff is
> totally contingent on the fact that someone simply won
> the race to the patent office.

Or just was the first to be willing to pay the team of patent lawyers
to write it up and submit it. One of the big problems with patents for
individuals or non-profits is the cost to apply for one. I don't
imagine too many FLOSS programmers being able come up with the
thousands of dollars to patent a genuinely new idea. (Whether it would
be a good idea to do that is another question entirely.)
JDR

> Now, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about the history of MS, but
> wasn't DOS
> kind of modeled after Unix? So MS takes the time to go to the patent office
> with
> stuff that was developed by people who don't bother to take the time to
> patent
> their stuff, and all of a sudden they are ones who one these ideas?
>
> I'm sure that it's more complex than this, but let's think about the
> software that
> has really contributed to shaping the world of computing the way we know it,
>
> for instance apache and sendmail. Aren't they open source, or at least not
> patented, and are we to say that MS hasn't benefited from seeing their
> source
> code? What about PHP, isn't it open source?
>
> For me this is just the strongest case against software patents
>
> On 5/16/07, Earl <earljviolet at juno.com> wrote:
> >
> > Micorsoft is just playing more of their games.  They do it a lot,
> > trying to scare people out of Linux.  I guess Linux is a threat to them
> > now, or at least they think so.
> >
> > If they get into court, I wonder whether Ms will have to prove that
> > their code contains no infringements.  I personally think that IBM
> > would love a chance to get Micosoft.
> >
> > It's all a joke but makes for good news.  Gives them something to write
> > about.
> >
> >
> > "God made man, Sam Colt made men equal."
> > "The fates guide him who will, him who won't they drag" Spengler
> >
> > -- Rich <r-lists at studiosprocket.com> wrote:
> > On May 15, 2007, at 1:44 pm, Shawn LaMaster wrote:
> >
> > > Microsoft reportedly wants open source software users to pay
> > > royalties on 235 alleged patent violations.
> > Here's the answer: http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=39663
> >
> > The author of the Open Source Risk Management (OSRM) study that
> > Ballmer quoted says that it is typical for any piece of software to
> > *potentially* violate around 283 patents which haven't been tested in
> > court, and that the whole thing is so perfectly normal that it's
> > "boring".
> >
> > Just in case anyone thought it wasn't FUD...
> > R.
> >
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>
>
> --
> "Perhaps the most striking thing about Christopher Flöss is his utter
> contempt for work. Under constant employment throughout his adult life,
> Chris is intimately aware of the nefarious nature of work and an outspoken
> opponent of career apologism." ~ Chris Flöss (Quoting himself)
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