[Mono-list] $MS and patents?
Guy Murphy
guy.murphy@calaba.com
Fri, 7 Sep 2001 11:14:02 +0100
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
------=_NextPart_000_0126_01C1378E.330BA750
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Hiyas,
Also remember that what is patent infringement in the US isn't =
necessarily so in other parts of the world.... places like the EU have =
gotten tired of US application of patents for software and have =
basically decided to go it alone (I believe the situation now is only =
truly ground breaking software algorithms can be patented), and places =
like China among others for all practical purposes really don't don't =
care.
So, if MS wishes to persue restrictive US patent suits, then they'll be =
in the US primarily, and they'll have to prove who wrote the code as one =
can simply claim it was written in Europe where (one would hope) it =
didn't infringe any patents.
Now the more inteteresting situation is the legal status of one in the =
US who is using free software "written legally in the EU", distributed =
on the Net, and used by that individual in the US.
I'd be interested to have comments from anybody with an actual legal =
background of this and a para-US perspective as this is only my =
understanding of the current ball game, and may well be wide of the =
mark.
And what's the legal status of somebody in the US using (rather than =
writing) US patent infringing software?
Cultural imperialism is empowered by people buying into its =
assumptions.... is there perhaps the assumption of applicability of US =
law?
Quite probably a dead-end, but worth I think challenging the assumption, =
as much of the corporate might in the US is based upon this assumption.
Cheers
Guy.
----- Original Message -----=20
From: Lloyd Dupont=20
Cc: 'mono-list@ximian.com'=20
Sent: Friday, September 07, 2001 9:22 AM
Subject: Re: [Mono-list] $MS and patents?
On Tuesday, September 4, 2001, at 06:55 PM, Faine, Mark wrote:
Another major area of concern for Microsoft is its .Net initiative.
Microsoft plans to fiercely protect its intellectual property rights =
in the face of open source projects designed to emulate .Net. The most =
notable is the Mono project led by Ximian that is attempting to port the =
.Net framework to Linux.
Experts say Microsoft won't let any .Net Linux projects get past the =
test stage.
From: http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2001/0831mslinuxw.html
i personally do believe that it is pure intimidation.
what could they legally do against one's other program ?
the fact is that its program as same interface but it is not the first =
time one write a library with same interface as other, no ?
------=_NextPart_000_0126_01C1378E.330BA750
Content-Type: text/html;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; =
charset=3Diso-8859-1">
<META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2600.0" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Hiyas,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Also remember that what is patent =
infringement in=20
the US isn't necessarily so in other parts of the world.... places like =
the EU=20
have gotten tired of US application of patents for software and have =
basically=20
decided to go it alone (I believe the situation now is only truly ground =
breaking software algorithms can be patented), and places like China =
among=20
others for all practical purposes really don't don't =
care.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>So, if MS wishes to persue restrictive =
US patent=20
suits, then they'll be in the US primarily, and they'll have to prove =
who wrote=20
the code as one can simply claim it was written in Europe where (one =
would hope)=20
it didn't infringe any patents.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Now the more inteteresting situation is =
the legal=20
status of one in the US who is using free software "written legally =
in the=20
EU", distributed on the Net, and used by that individual in the =
US.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I'd be interested to have comments from =
anybody=20
with an actual legal background of this and a para-US perspective as =
this is=20
only my understanding of the current ball game, and may well be wide of =
the=20
mark.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>And what's the legal status of somebody =
in the US=20
using (rather than writing) US patent infringing =
software?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Cultural imperialism is empowered by =
people buying=20
into its assumptions.... is there perhaps the assumption of =
applicability of US=20
law?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Quite probably a dead-end, but worth I =
think=20
challenging the assumption, as much of the corporate might in the US is =
based=20
upon this assumption.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Cheers</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2> Guy.</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE=20
style=3D"PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV=20
style=3D"BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>=20
<A title=3Dlloyd@galador.net href=3D"mailto:lloyd@galador.net">Lloyd =
Dupont</A>=20
</DIV>
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Cc:</B> <A =
title=3Dmono-list@ximian.com=20
href=3D"mailto:'mono-list@ximian.com'">'mono-list@ximian.com'</A> =
</DIV>
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, September 07, =
2001 9:22=20
AM</DIV>
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Mono-list] $MS =
and=20
patents?</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>On Tuesday, September 4, 2001, at 06:55 PM, Faine, Mark =
wrote:<BR><BR><?fontfamily><?param Arial><?color><?param =
0000,0000,DEDE><?smaller>Another=20
major area of concern for Microsoft is its .Net =
initiative.<?/smaller><?/color><?/fontfamily><?color><?param =
0000,0000,DEDE><BR><BR><?fontfamily><?param Arial><?smaller>Microsoft=20
plans to fiercely protect its intellectual property rights in the face =
of open=20
source projects designed to emulate .Net. The most notable is the Mono =
project=20
led by Ximian that is attempting to port the .Net framework to =
Linux.<?/smaller><?/fontfamily><BR><BR><?fontfamily><?param =
Arial><?smaller>Experts=20
say Microsoft won't let any .Net Linux projects get past the test =
stage.<?/smaller><?/fontfamily><BR><?fontfamily><?param =
Arial><?smaller>From: =
<?/smaller><?/fontfamily><?/color><U><?fontfamily><?param =
Arial><?color><?param =
1A1A,1A1A,FFFF><?smaller>http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2001/0831mslinuxw.h=
tml<?/smaller><?/color><?/fontfamily></U><?color><?param =
0000,0000,DEDE><BR><?/color><BR>i=20
personally do believe that it is pure intimidation.<BR>what could they =
legally=20
do against one's other program ?<BR>the fact is that its program as =
same=20
interface but it is not the first time one write a library with same =
interface=20
as other, no ?</BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>
------=_NextPart_000_0126_01C1378E.330BA750--