Wednesday, January 11th, 2006, 5:07 pm
Patent May Prevent Outside Access to Windows
Filed under:
Bill Gates arrested in his younger days (photo in public domain)
This one particular story comes from CNET and it speaks of a patent which has just been upheld. This patent has apparently suffered from some court battles and rejections in the past as it is very controversial. Judge for yourself:
[...]
The FAT file system, a common means of storing files, was originally developed for Windows but is also employed on removable flash memory cards used in digital cameras and other devices. Some Linux- and Unix-related products also use the system to exchange data with Windows.
[...]
To many this means that files will be ‘locked’ not only by proprietary formats, but also by the underlying filesystem. The filesystem in itself becomes proprietary and very restrictive. I wonder not only how this affects Linux, but merely any device that attempts to communicate with the closed-source ogre. The European Commision is less than pleased about aggressive attempts to lock out the competition.
The European Commission has threatened to fine Microsoft up to 2m euros (£1.36m; $2.4m) a day until it gives rivals more access to its systems.
