> Is there any indication yet that Eolas intends to enforce this patent on > any open source or free software projects?
>From their attorney's web site (and from the UC web site): Q. Won't this patent put a stranglehold on the Internet? A. UC seeks fair compensation for the use of the technology made by Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser - use which has allowed Microsoft to garner majority share in the browser market and, in so doing, reap billions of dollars in profits. However, they do NOT stop there. From ZDNet (http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5063444.html): ------------------------------- "Anybody who's making a product that infringes a valid US patent needs to conduct themselves in accordance with the patent laws," Eolas' lead trial attorney, Martin Lueck of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, said in an interview. "It doesn't matter whether they're making, using, selling or offering to sell the product -- they have to come to grips with the reality of the patent... I think anybody who's in the browser business should be taking a look at this verdict, and obviously, if they need a licence, they should get one," Lueck said. Clearly, should Eolas decide to make good on its threats, the more likely targets would be those companies that generate revenue from browser sales, such as Apple, HP, Red Hat and Opera. --------------- [Tim] O'Reilly and others see the gathering storm around the Eolas case as an indictment of software patents in general. "Once again we see the tragedy that software patents represent for the industry, because they allow legal opportunists to capitalise on the work of others," said O'Reilly. "That's why software patents are a really bad idea -- they encourage a kind of land-grab mentality." ------------------------------- Last time I checked, Red Hat's browsers were Open Source, and Apple's is based upon KHTML. The FFII raised any interesting observation that because this is a patent, if Microft were to decide that if they are going to pay, they might as well get an exclusive, they could acquire the exclusive right to the patent from Eolas, and thus lock out all other platforms from the technology. And they would be doing it legally with someone else's patent. --- Noel --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
