[tlug] RE: Shuttleworth Interview at Red Herring (Roger Markus)

["Kenneth Burling" <meyaden_emrys@example.com>]

> Message: 4
> Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2007 06:13:05 +0900
> From: "Roger Markus" <rogermarku@example.com>
> Subject: [tlug] Shuttleworth Interview at Red Herring
> To: tlug <tlug@example.com>
>
> Regarding the previously discussed issue of Novell dealing with Microsoft,
> Shuttleworth commented (in part):
>
>    Microsoft is going to claim that deploying Linux anywhere, unless you 
> pay
> Microsoft a patent fee, is a violation of their patent and they haven't
> proved that yet. But they certainly seem to be positioning themselves in
> such a way that they could do so.

I certainly hope this is not the case.  The current stream of judges seems 
to have little understanding of patent law, and microsoft likes to hire 
expensive charismatic lawyers.  If they were to be so bold as to violate 
every line of patent and copyright law in existence (which is what such a 
move would do), then they might actually succeed, and solidify the current 
trend of making patent law worthless.  If a law is never enforced, then it 
doesn't effectively exist.

Attempting to patent, then sue for patent violation, a group of technologies 
that have been in use by others for over twenty years is definitely a BAD 
thing.