Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2012 09:09:33 -0500 (CDT) From: Robert Bonomi <bonomi@mail.r-bonomi.com> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Patent hit - MS goes after Linux - FreeBSD ? Message-ID: <201208031409.q73E9X9o041587@mail.r-bonomi.com> In-Reply-To: <1343995740.40983.YahooMailNeo@web120803.mail.ne1.yahoo.com>
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> From: Bill Tillman <btillman99@yahoo.com> > Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2012 05:09:00 -0700 (PDT) > Subject: Re: Patent hit - MS goes after Linux - FreeBSD ? > > > From: C. P. Ghost <cpghost@cordula.ws> > > Subject: Re: Patent hit - MS goes after Linux - FreeBSD ? > > > > On Thu, Aug 2, 2012 at 8:57 PM, Chad Perrin <perrin@apotheon.com> wrote: > > > 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. > > > > Right! > > > > Let's also hope that most patents that could harm us (should there be > > some lurking out there) will have expired by then. Unless Congress pulls > > a Mickey Mouse Protection Act-lookalike on patents by extending them just > > as they did with Copyright. > > > > But as usual with Congress, I wouldn't hold my breath: they aren't > > exactly known for enacting reasonable and sensible laws. Especially not > > when heavily lobbied by mega corps with deep pockets like MSFT, Oracle, > > Apple and so on. Yes, things will get really nasty once those > > corporations go the way of the SCO. > > > > > (disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. This is not legal advice. Et cetera.) > > > > > > -- > > > Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ] > > > > Regards, > > -cpghost. > > For M$ to talk about patent infringment is like the kettle calling the > pot black. Ever take a copy of M$ ftp.exe and place it on a unix machine > and then run this on it: > > strings.exe ftp.exe | grep Copyright > > Just see what you find there. And you think this is surprising, why? Have you ever read the actual U.C. Berkeley License for, say, the BSD 4.4-Lite software source-code distribution? Do you know that Microsoft has a *PAID*FOR* license, for using, AND redistributing, Unix; -both- from the University of Calif. (for "BSD"), _and_ from what was then AT&T Bell Labs (for "Sys V")? Do you think MS is doing something 'improper' by preserving the copyright notice in _licensed_ code that they are *LEGALLY* using? BTW 'copyright' and 'patent' are two _very_ different subjects, with different rules, and governed by different laws.
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