Move to Europe

Move to Europe

Posted Oct 15, 2007 18:16 UTC (Mon) by Max.Hyre (subscriber, #1054)
In reply to: Move to Europe by simlo
Parent article: A visit from the trolls

1) Patents wouldn't hurt Linux at much directly.

Depends on what counts as ``directly''. Developers, and thus development would be freed by such a move.

Unfortunately, unlike copyright, patent applies to anyone using the patented material as well. Thus, the trolls could sue GNU/Linux users. Our distros would have to go offshore, too, and we'd be downloading them clandestinely, not letting anyone know what OS we're running. Bittorrent use would go 'way up.

Picture a dark alley, complete with shady character displaying the contents of his coat: ``Psst, buddy. Want some hot Linux?'' :-/

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<font class="QuotedText">&gt;  patent applies to anyone using the patented material as well. </font>
 
Can anyone tell me if this is for real under USofAn patent law? Because 
under Brasilian patent law, you can use whatever patented invention in a 
personal, non-profit-generating way. But we also _explicitly_ forbid 
software, business methods, and game rules patents. 

This is basically true in the US, though in practical terms, nobody is likely to sue over a
patent being used non-commercially by an individual.