On Mon, 14 May 2007 20:19:01 GMT, "Billary/2008"
<F#%K_Liberals@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>"3396 Dead" <22113396Dead@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>news:mL22i.4485$UU.103@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>
>>
http://www.rawstory.com/showoutarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.com.com%2FRe****t%2BMicrosoft%2Bsays%2Bopen%2Bsource%2Bviolates%2B235%2Bpatents%2F2100-1014_3-6183437.html
>>
>> Re****t: Microsoft says open source violates 235 patents
>> Top Microsoft lawyer alleges in a magazine interview that the Linux
kernel
>> and OpenOffice.org violate hundreds of the company's patents.
>> By Ina Friedand Stephen Shankland
>> Staff Writer, CNET News.com
>> Published: May 13, 2007, 7:35 PM PDT
>> Last modified: May 13, 2007, 8:30 PM PDT
>> Tell us what you think about this storyTalkBackE-mail this story to a
>> friendE-mailView this story formatted for printingPrint Add to your
>> del.icio.usdel.icio.us Digg this storyDigg this
>> Re****t: Microsoft says open source violates 235 patents
>>
>> update Microsoft claims that free and open-source software violates 235
of
>> its patents, according to a magazine re****t published Sunday.
>>
>> In an interview with Fortune, Microsoft top lawyer Brad Smith alleges
that
>> the Linux kernel violates 42 Microsoft patents, while its user
interface
>> and other design elements infringe on a further 65. OpenOffice.org is
>> accused of infringing 45, along with 83 more in other free and
open-source
>> programs, according to Fortune.
>>
>> It is not entirely clear how Microsoft might proceed in enforcing these
>> patents, but the company has been encouraging large tech companies that
>> depend on Linux to ink patent deals, starting with its controversial
pact
>> with Novell last November. Microsoft has also cited Linux protection
>> playing a role in recent patent swap deals with Samsung and Fuji Xerox.
>> Microsoft has also had discussions but not reached a deal with Red Hat,
as
>> noted in the Fortune article.
>>
>> Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is also quoted in the article as saying
>> Microsoft's open-source competitors need to "play by the same rules as
the
>> rest of the business."
>>
>> "What's fair is fair," Ballmer told Fortune. "We live in a world where
we
>> honor, and sup****t the honoring of, intellectual property."
>>
>> The story notes that some big tech proponents of open source have been
>> stockpiling intellectual property as part of the Open Invention
Network,
>> set up in 2005 by folks like Sony, Red Hat, IBM, NEC and Philips. The
>> article surmises that if Microsoft were to go after open source, these
>> companies' combined know-how might give it some patent weapons to go
after
>> Windows.
>>
>> A Microsoft representative did not immediately respond to an e-mail
>> seeking comment.
>>
>> Given how deeply entrenched open-source software has become in the
>> computing industry, taking direct legal action against the open-source
>> realm would be a complicated, hackle-raising undertaking for Microsoft.
>> Customers use open-source software widely, and many major computing
>> companies--IBM, Dell, Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, Motorola and
>> Oracle, for example--sup****t Linux work directly.
>>
>> It's not the first time that open-source patent concerns have arisen. A
>> 2004 study by a Open Source Risk Management, a company selling
insurance
>> against risks of using open-source software, concluded that Linux could
>> violate at least 283 patents, 27 of them Microsoft patents.
>>
>> Patents and the open-source movement get along awkwardly at best.
Patent
>> law gives proprietary, exclusive rights to patent holders, but
open-source
>> programming is built on the idea of free sharing. Newer open-source
>> licenses sometimes address the issue by requiring contributors to
>> open-source projects to grant users and developers of the software a
>> perpetual, royalty-free license to any patents that relate to the
>> contribution.
>> Now on News.com
>> Re****t: Microsoft says open source violates 235 patents Most hated
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>>
>> Different companies have dealt in different ways with the open-source
>> patent conundrum. For example, HP has taken a pro-patent stance, while
>> IBM, Nokia, Sun and others have granted some rights to use some of
their
>> patents in open-source software.
>>
>> The Open Invention Network remains a relatively young effort, but it
has
>> attracted participation this year from proprietary software giant
Oracle
>> and from Linux sup****t seller Canonical. A company may license the
>> network's patents for free as long as they promise not to assert any
>> patent claims against those involved in the "Linux environment."
>>
>> The Free Software Foundation is working on a new draft of the General
>> Public License, one element of which will ban partner****ps such as the
one
>> struck by Novell and Microsoft.
>
>The Linux geeks love to bash MSFT. Yet they love to copy the features
and
>funtionality of MSFT products. They only wish they had a product half as
>powerful and feature rich as MSFT has. The Linux geeks are nothing but a
>bunch of thieves intent on destroying the rights of intellectual property
>owners.
Actually, they have no use for the features and functionality, which
are usually problematical. They just want to be able to read their
files and save in the same format. Word Perfect already does, and is
a better word processor than Word.
I came to find out that Corel backed away from the Wine project, not
because it wasn't working, but because MS bought up 35% of their stock
and started applying pressure on them. Preditory business practices.
Now we have this, a suit against the Linux community allegeding
features infringing. Preditory, preditory.
>
>
--
"I am fully committed, as the administration's fully committed, to ensure
that, with respect to every United States
attorney position in this country, we will have a presidentially
appointed, Senate-confirmed United States attorney."
--Alberto Gonzales, committing perjury before Congress
Putsch: leading America to asymetric warfare since 2001
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Pay your taxes so the rich don't have to.
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