[http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/03/microsoft-and-tomtom-settle-patent-dispute.ars]
===== Microsoft and TomTom settle patent dispute Microsoft and TomTom have settled their controversial patent dispute, which included allegations that the Linux kernel infringes on Microsoft's filesystem patents. TomTom has licensed the patents from Microsoft, but intends to remove from its Linux kernel the code that is covered by the patents. By Ryan Paul | Last updated March 30, 2009 12:45 PM CT [...] In an announcement Monday, Microsoft and TomTom contend that the terms of the settlement fully conform with TomTom's obligations under the GPL, the license under which Linux is distributed. TomTom has paid to license Microsoft's patents, including those covering FAT. TomTom will, however, remove the functionality that is covered under the FAT patents. This will guarantee that the code in TomTom's Linux kernel can continue to be broadly redistributed downstream without patent encumbrances. This aspect of the agreement, along with specificity about which patents are infringed, are major factors that differentiate this agreement from Microsoft's controversial deal with Novell. [...] Although the settlement has ended the conflict between Microsoft and TomTom, questions still remain about the implications for FAT in the broader Linux ecosystem. Microsoft has previously stated that this lawsuit represents an isolated issue and that the company does not intend to broadly sue Linux users. Upstream kernel developers could potentially adopt TomTom's code changes in order to avoid future patent disputes with Microsoft over FAT. ===== -- Soh Kam Yung my Google Reader Shared links: (http://www.google.com/reader/shared/16851815156817689753) my Google Reader Shared SFAS links: (http://www.google.com/reader/shared/user/16851815156817689753/label/sfas) _______________________________________________ Slugnet mailing list [email protected] http://wiki.lugs.org.sg/LugsMailingListFaq http://www.lugs.org.sg/mailman/listinfo/slugnet
