Actually this kind of thing was common in the early days of the automobile industry. There was even a patent granted on the car. GM and Chrysler paid royalties to someone for years, but Henry Ford refused. The case went on for several years. The patent holder died, and his family decided to drop the patent claim.
There is a lot of cross licensing in the automobile industry, and a lot of working around patents by making small changes in the design, then filing a new patent. I hope the software industry does not go the same route, since this has caused stagnation in the automobile industry. Have you noticed that most cars look like they were designed by the same guy? -----Original Message----- From: McKown, John [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2003 8:43 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: SCO not playing by Aussie Rules I really liked: http://www.osv.org.au/index.cgi?tid=29 in particular, the paragraph: <quote> "SCO's suggestion that these end users would somehow be at legal risk through using Linux is a wholly disingenuous statement, and is akin to the hypothetical situation of General Motors suing owners of Ford's cars because GM claimed that Ford copied the design of the dashboard cigarette lighter from General Motors." suggested Zymaris. </quote> I do hope some wacked-out US lawyer doesn't read this and actually consider it. -- John McKown Senior Systems Programmer UICI Insurance Center Applications & Solutions Team +1.817.255.3225 This message (including any attachments) contains confidential information intended for a specific individual and purpose, and its' content is protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient, you should delete this message and are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, or distribution of this transmission, or taking any action based on it, is strictly prohibited. > -----Original Message----- > From: John Summerfield [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2003 10:30 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: SCO not playing by Aussie Rules > > > On Wed, 23 Jul 2003, Peter Webb, Toronto Transit Commission wrote: > > > Go Aussies!!!!!!!!! > > > > http://www.theregister.com/content/61/31910.html > > > > In that splendid Australian way, OSV is inventive with the > invective, > > likening SCO's bid to make Linux users pay up as the "IT > industry equivalent > > of a Nigerian scam or Internet extortion ploy". > > > I rather like this page: > http://www.osv.org.au/index.cgi?tid=36 > > > > -- > > > Cheers > John. > > Join the "Linux Support by Small Businesses" list at > http://mail.computerdatasafe.com.au/mailman/listinfo/lssb > Copyright John Summerfield. Reproduction prohibited. >
