[rescue] fwd: Microsoft demands royalties for open-source software

[Michael-John Turner]

On Tue, May 15, 2007 at 12:41:34PM -0400, Sandwich Maker wrote:
> anyone think these cases have serious merit, or is the deep-pockets
> just trying to bury the opposition with legal costs?

My feeling is that Microsoft is trying to spread FUD and scare large firms
that are considering FOSS. Companies are going to be dissuaded from using
FOSS if there is a risk that they may have to pay unknown "future
royalties" because the software they're using violates a Microsoft patent. 

I wonder if this will all just mysteriously blow over in a few months,
without Microsoft ever having released the details of the patents
supposedly violated. By which time, of course, enough FUD will be spread in
the market, particularly amongst those who don't fully understand FOSS,
that Microsoft will have achieved exactly what they wanted to with their
disinformation campaign. 

IMHO, of course.

-mj
-- 
Michael-John Turner | http://mjturner.net/
mj at turner.org.za    | Open Source in WC ZA - http://www.clug.org.za/