Paul Fisher wrote:
> > Sun is taking the stance that copyright on specifications prohibits
> > implementation of these specifications w/o a license.
>
> Sun does indeed take this bogus stance. We choose to ignore it.
> Sun interprets copyright law far too broadly.
Interesting. I don't know whether this has changed by now, but a few
months ago Tim Wilkinson stated on debian-java that Transvirtual held
back with respect to Java2, following lawyer advice. It is not so much
a question of who is right, it is a question of how much money they
are willing to throw at you. There has been no final ruling in the
MS-Sun case yet, I take it?
> Sun's lawsuit was based on Microsoft allegedly going outside of their
> license grant from Sun.
MS implemented RNI, and did not implement JNI. That was the starting
point: obtaining a license, but not implementing the specs in full.
Forced to implement JNI under the contract they had signed, MS objective
is now to be able to extend Java beyond the specs.
> Microsoft later asked permission to be able
> to write a clean-room implementation of Java that would not be subject
> to the prior licensing terms of Sun's source code. The judge ruled in
> favor of Microsoft on that issue.
Yes, luckily so. This was a preliminary ruling though. Sun has no choice
but trying to undo this. If clean-room implementations are allowed,
and allowed to deviate from the "Holy Specs According To Sun", Sun's
strategy falls apart. Their only chance of preventing MS, HP, or even
Cygnus (CNI) from "polluting" Java is making sure that nobody can
implement the specification w/o negotiating a license. Sun's withdrawal
from ISO/ECMA means they are are betting the farm on being able to
leverage IP rights against cleanroom. If the judge puts an end to this
suicidal strategy, all the better. I'd very much prefer MS pollution of
Java to the fallout of a court decision setting precedence for this
"bogus" stance. We have plenty of bogus patents with quite real
consequences.
b.
--
"Problem solving is hunting. It is savage pleasure,
and we are born to it." Thomas Harris, Silence of the Lambs
