Your point is valid, but WHY would IBM want to shut out this part of the market? One of the big things I keep hearing/reading is that there are concerns that not enough mainframe-trained students are coming out of colleges or trade schools and into the job market. The small-platform mainframe would erase that shortage, because schools could actually use low-cost processors to train students how to program/operate/secure their commercial big brothers. It also keeps smaller developers from creating innovative software for the mainframe platform.
How does restricting the marketplace like this HELP Big Blue? Because so far, I've not seen a convincing argument for that case, despite the fact that it seems to be the core thrust of IBM's actions. -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of John P. Baker Sent: Monday, December 31, 2007 09:44 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: It keeps getting uglier All R&D is paid for by the consumer in the end. So what? IBM has not made hardware or software unavailable. US patent law provides for a term of exclusivity. IBM is enforcing the legitimate rights afforded to then under US patent law. You seem to suggest that if an invention is of great benefit to society the rights of the patent holder should be held null and void. The founding fathers felt differently, and more than 200 years of jurisprudence have upheld that difference of opinion. Inventors are granted a "limited" time during which they retain exclusive rights to their invention, regardless of what society may think about it. Otherwise, what would be the purpose? Under your scenario, if I come up with a new invention which is of great benefit to society, then society should have the right to take it, give it to other (cheaper) manufacturers, and leave me out in the cold. IBM is well within its rights to deny PSI access to its 64-bit patents during the term of exclusivity, which in the US in currently 20 years. You may not like IBM's enforcement of its patent rights, but that does not make their actions illegal. John P. Baker -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Roger Bowler Sent: Monday, December 31, 2007 5:14 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: It keeps getting uglier The money which IBM spent on R&D came from the sales of mainframe computers to the companies which run the banking, transportation, manufacturing, and administrative systems which we all rely on. The revenues of those companies comes from the users of those systems. IBM didn't pay for the R&D. We did. S/390-based technology is critical to the functioning of our society. IBM does not have the right to keep society-critical technology secret, nor to hold society to ransom by preventing competitors from producing compatible systems. We have a right to expect that the hardware and software to drive these critical systems will always remain available. A competitive marketplace with a choice of suppliers is the way to ensure that the continued availability of mainframe technology is not dependent on the short-term interests of IBM profitability. For many years I trusted IBM to honour its obligations to society. Recent events led me to believe that this trust was misplaced. When IBM pulled the rug out from under the independent software vendors in the autumn of 2006, because the emulation technology in their IBM-supplied development systems got in the way of the IBM vs PSI litigation, it showed that however benevolent IBM may appear to be, in the end IBM's interests override those of the customer. Ref: http://www.tech-news.com/another/ap200703b.html Ref: http://www.tech-news.com/another/ap200704b.html Regards, Roger Bowler http://perso.wanadoo.fr/rbowler Hercules "the people's mainframe" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
