Alex Thurgood wrote: > Hi, > > I don't know whether this has come up on the general user list because I'm > not > subscribed, but I imagine at least some here have seen this recent article in > Fortune : > > http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/05/28/100033867/index.htm > > Anyone from Sun Legal ou there ? Thought not :-) > Now, we can all just sit around guffawing (which is what we generally do > anyway when a senior position at MS opens their mouths) or we, as a > community, can actually take this seriously, and try to elaborate a response > or at least deign to think about it. > > Let's face it, Sun Legal must know which bits of code were accused of being > infringing patents in StarOffice, and some of that code must be in OOo, since > in the end a deal was signed to settle all outstanding software patent > litigation, so is there any chance of a person like myself (who is sworn to > professional secrecy and bears privilege) getting access to that information > so I can take a look at it in my spare time ? > > Alex Thurgood > European Patent Attorney, French Patent Attorney > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >
Software patents are a madness, they should be declared illegal all over the world, while "big bad boys" are trying to make them introduced instead. There is NOTHING you can do against software patents in particular. They are patents upon generic ideas, every software of middle complexity infringes some hundred. Probably M$ products infringe some thousands. M$ patents a generic idea (i.e. as they did with XML files for document storage, granted in some countries) and everyone that has build on his own a software that does what is generically claimed is doomed. Software patents is called "minefield". In general the response would be: a) tell that sw patents are wrong, wrong, and wrong, a position Sun does not agree (at least, in the past), since it helps big company in keeping their monopolies, even if with some burden (remember Kodak that sued Sun upon Java-infringing patents, and Sun had to pay?). Explain what they are, otherwise people think that OOo has stoled code from M$, while is M$ that stoled generic ideas and declared "my property". b) tell that M$ products infringe tons of other patents. Big companies don't usually sue each other, they "exchange patents portfolio" instead, but fortunately there are the so called "patent trolls" that have not interest in exchange and can bit them hard. No one sued FOSS so far, while M$ has lot of trials about patents infringements... (of course there are other reasons for that than that FOSS does not infringe sw patents) c) ask the US government to declare software patents and business methods ILLEGAL to grant, like is in Europe, even if M$ is pushing hard to make them legal here also. They want to reform the patent legislation, but seems only to avoid bad effects for the Big Guys and not to declare it a madness and remove. Just for record, visit: http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/ www.ffii.org http://heironymouscoward.blogspot.com/ or for a list of daily craziness: http://press.ffii.org/Software_patent_news Send money to FFII, if you can't help otherwise. period Marco Menardi ps. if you need more info, feel free of contact me by private e-mail. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
