____/ Mark Kent on Friday 26 October 2007 15:05 : \____
> Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
>> Let's Make a Deal - The MS-EU Settlement
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>| The patent part is terrible. Worse than terrible. They are not blocked from
>>| offering patent deals, only constrained as to how much to charge for a
>>| license, which is not and never was the issue. So they'll beef up those
>>| initiatives, I'm sure. However, the good part is that they were compelled
>>| to separate the patent license offer out and make it optional. Thanks, but
>>| no thanks.
>>|
>>| [...]
>>|
>>| I'm guessing Microsoft lawyers are high fiving each other, having snatched
>>| an important victory from utter and total defeat. The rest is excellent, of
>>| course, and in no way do I mean to detract from the hard work and
>>| persistence that the EU Commission has shown. However, I don't think they
>>| understand how seriously broken the US patent system is currently, and how
>>| easy it is to abuse it, or they don't feel it's their job to fix the US
>>| problems, or how central patents are to Microsoft's current strategy
>>| against FOSS.
>> `----
>>
>> http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20071022114731199
>>
>> It's truly a shame.
>
> Except software patents are not valid in the EU, so it doesn't matter.
A new article from Aussie suggests that it'll drive projects such as Samba to
Europe. And they say Microsoft is good for America? Many people have warned
for at least a year that USPTO drives all the innovation elsewhere. The patent
mountain erupted a couple of months ago, so a gradual migration of developers
is likely.
--
~~ Best of wishes
Microsoft loves competition.
"I’m thinking of hitting the OEMs harder than in the past with anti-Linux. ...
they should do a delicate dance"
--Joachim Kempin, Microsoft OEM Chief
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