a possible bridge
a possible bridge
Posted May 15, 2007 23:15 UTC (Tue) by JoeBuck (subscriber, #2330)Parent article: Microsoft Won't Sue Linux Users, Company Exec Says (InformationWeek)
Microsoft and OIN could agree to cross-license patents. Microsoft can then use any of the OIN patents in its proprietary products, in exchange for GPL software as well as the OIN members getting the right to use any of the relevant Microsoft patents. However, the GPL (2 or 3draft) requires that any license grants extend to anyone who wants to redistribute or modify the code.
This would lift a threat hanging off of Microsoft's head; as a company that has mainly copied others' ideas, it's vulnerable to patent suits and is a much more attractive target than Linux developers are, since it has much more money.