[OT Linux Patents] Microsoft takes on the free world

[Gabriel Dragffy]

On Mon, 2007-05-14 at 11:44 -0700, NoOp wrote:
> With apologies to the list for not being technical support related...
> "Ubuntu user technical support, not for general discussions"
> (I can't find a "general discussions" list on
> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/). I suppose that this could
> become technical support related in the near future...
> 
> Rather interesting article in Fortune/CNNMoney.com whereby Microsoft is
> claiming that linux & other free software violates 235 of it's patents.
> 
> <http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/05/28/100033867/index.htm>
> [http://preview.tinyurl.com/ypuxkg]
> <quote>
> Microsoft takes on the free world
> Microsoft claims that free software like Linux, which runs a big chunk
> of corporate America, violates 235 of its patents. It wants royalties
> from distributors and users. Users like you, maybe. Fortune's Roger
> Parloff reports.
>  .
>  .
>  .
> </quote>
> 
> Related blog by the author:
> <http://legalpad.blogs.fortune.com/2007/05/13/msft-linux-free-software-infringe-235-of-our-patents/>
> [http://preview.tinyurl.com/36v6jr]
> 
> <quote>
> Still, 235 is a lot of alleged infringements. “This is not a case of
> some accidental, unknowing infringement,” says Microsoft’s licensing
> chief, Horacio Gutierrez. “There is an overwhelming number of patents
> being infringed.” By comparison, for example, Verizon’s (VZ) patent suit
> against Vonage (VG) was based on seven patents, of which just three were
> found to infringe. In the story, Gutierrez, breaks down that figure into
> the following categories:
> 
> 1. The Linux kernel allegedly infringes 42 Microsoft patents. (The
> kernel is the deepest layer of the operating system, which interacts
> most directly with the hardware.)
> 
> 2. The Linux user interfaces allegedly infringe 65 patents. (The user
> interfaces are the way design elements, like menus and toolbars, are set
> up to promote easy and intuitive use.)
> 
> 3. The Open Office programs allegedly infringe 45 patents. (This a suite
> of free software programs analogous to Microsoft’s Office, including,
> for instance, word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software,
> which perform functions like Microsoft’s Word, Excel and PowerPoint
> products.)
> 
> 4. Free email programs allegedly infringe 15 patents.
> 
> 5. Other assorted free software programs that are frequently included in
> Linux distributions allegedly violate another 68 patents.
> </quote>
> 
> 

That's one of the most interesting articles I have read in a long time.
Do you know if there is some kind of mailing list for GNU or Linux that
discusses these matter? It would be very enlightening.
-- 
Gabriel Dragffy FdA BA(hons)


Websites by Gabe:
http://dragffy.com
http://andrew-norman.com