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Linux Vendor Settles With Microsoft (InformationWeek)Linux Vendor Settles With Microsoft (InformationWeek)Posted Jul 17, 2009 2:20 UTC (Fri) by wilreichert (subscriber, #17680)Parent article: Linux Vendor Settles With Microsoft (InformationWeek)
I suspect in a couple years that indemnity will be worth just as much as a Linux license from SCO. How long before one of their victims doesn't roll over to play dead & makes them look really bad?
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Linux Vendor Settles With Microsoft (InformationWeek) Posted Jul 17, 2009 3:12 UTC (Fri) by BackSeat (subscriber, #1886) [Link] How long before one of their victims doesn't roll over to play dead & makes them look really bad?Have any of them rolled over dead yet? (In other words, to answer your question, no time at all). Assuming you meant "s/doesn't roll/rolls/", I still don't understand what point you're trying to make.
Linux Vendor Settles With Microsoft (InformationWeek) Posted Jul 17, 2009 3:58 UTC (Fri) by wilreichert (subscriber, #17680) [Link]
They took the easy way out & settled. Sure it was probably financially in their best interest but it sets a precedence for future cases to look back at. Additionally, Microsoft now has increasing power in the supposed validity of whatever patent was possibly being infringed upon. This just makes it all the more easier to extort royalties from the next Linux based company. The only way this will stop is if someone steps up and challenges the validity of whatever patent/s.
Linux Vendor Settles With Microsoft (InformationWeek) Posted Jul 17, 2009 10:05 UTC (Fri) by whacker (guest, #55546) [Link]
If this trend continues, and software patents continue to be invalid in the rest of the world, pretty soon USians will be unable to use all this Free Software. Businessmen will begin to wonder why they suffer such a grave disadvantage in the US versus software makers in the rest of the world.
I *am* an optimist. Really.
Linux Vendor Settles With Microsoft (InformationWeek) Posted Jul 18, 2009 23:53 UTC (Sat) by wookey (subscriber, #5501) [Link]
Software patents are not invalid in the rest of the world. There are many fewer than in the US, and business process patents usually are invalid, but sadly most places have software patents - very few jurisdicions declared the MS FAT patents invalid for example, and I believe a variant is granted in most significant markets. New Zealnd was one of the few that refused it IIRC.
People keep quoting that 'europe does not have swpats' on this site, and it's just not true. We managed to stop having them explicitly legalised, but many, many are still granted every year. You pretty-much just have to say 'some software running on a computer' and thus claim it as a 'machine'. It makes litte practical difference, and what limits there are are being steadily eroded.
Linux Vendor Settles With Microsoft (InformationWeek) Posted Jul 17, 2009 17:45 UTC (Fri) by kdogksu (guest, #46337) [Link]
Completely agree. As soon as one of Microsoft's victims wins one of these patent battles instead of settling out of court, Microsoft's ability to bully smaller companies into making these sort of payments will be diminished. Of course, this does nothing for the overall patent situation in the US, but that will be a change long in coming. It's important to put a stop to these litigation threats to protect open source innovation in the short term.
Linux Vendor Settles With Microsoft (InformationWeek) Posted Jul 24, 2009 20:29 UTC (Fri) by vonbrand (subscriber, #4458) [Link]
That supposes the victim has the
Key quote Posted Jul 17, 2009 21:50 UTC (Fri) by dmarti (subscriber, #11625) [Link] "While we plan to increasingly adopt Windows Storage Server for our NAS business, we also wanted to ensure that our open source and Linux-embedded devices had the appropriate IP protections," said Hajim Nakai, a board member at Melco's Buffalo line.In other words, we're closing up shop in this market, and this is our chance to poison the well for those who are staying. As with the Novell deal, the "unspecified patent protection racket" participation is part of a wider deal with MSFT.
Key quote Posted Jul 19, 2009 20:49 UTC (Sun) by man_ls (subscriber, #15091) [Link] Excellent sight for spotting the quote. I think it explains the whole deal. Bad luck for those still developing Linux NAS boxes (and probably worse luck for those selling Windows gadgets, having to maintain them afterwards).
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