From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Fri Aug 3 01:12:59 2012 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [69.147.83.52]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8F5B81065670 for ; Fri, 3 Aug 2012 01:12:59 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from erichfreebsdlist@ovitrap.com) Received: from alogreentechnologies.com (alogreentechnologies.com [67.212.224.110]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5C0808FC12 for ; Fri, 3 Aug 2012 01:12:59 +0000 (UTC) Received: from AMD620.ovitrap.com ([49.128.188.2]) (authenticated bits=0) by alogreentechnologies.com (8.13.1/8.13.1) with ESMTP id q731CGFm020496; Thu, 2 Aug 2012 19:12:40 -0600 Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2012 08:14:33 +0700 From: Erich Dollansky To: Chad Perrin Message-ID: <20120803081433.0ad12c03@AMD620.ovitrap.com> In-Reply-To: <20120802185759.GB12255@hemlock.hydra> References: <20120802185759.GB12255@hemlock.hydra> X-Mailer: Claws Mail 3.8.0 (GTK+ 2.24.6; amd64-portbld-freebsd10.0) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Patent hit - MS goes after Linux - FreeBSD ? X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2012 01:12:59 -0000 Hi, On Thu, 2 Aug 2012 12:57:59 -0600 Chad Perrin wrote: > On Wed, Aug 01, 2012 at 01:39:21PM +0000, Traiano Welcome wrote: > > > > Unfortunately, patent law and copyright law are very different > environments. The truth is that probably every nontrivial piece of yes. > software created infringes several patents, and the only question that > remains is whether those patents would hold up in court under close The best tool against any patents is prior art. The open source scene misses a very simple platform. Even FreeBSD could offer an extra list named 'prior-art' on which people can publish their ideas. The moment the server starts distributing the e-mail, nobody can claim a patent anywhere in the world for the idea mentioned. > scrutiny. The greater the disparity in legal expertise and funding > behind the two parties, the greater the likelihood that the case will > be found in favor of the party with the greater resources. Not true for cases of prior art. > > This is the reason software patents comprise such a blight on the > world of software development. Even a frivolous patent that would There is no difference for an engineer who works in other fields. > not hold up through completion of litigation may serve its purpose by > bankrupting a defendant before the case is concluded. That party must have a real dumb patent attorney then. > > 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. > It is all in the people's mind. > (disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. This is not legal advice. Et > cetera.) > This is an example of the real problem. Erich