Anti patent troll group thrives

"Remember the Open Invention Network (OIN)? That's the defensive software patent community set up to protect Linux against patent aggressors. Well, it recently passed 1,000 members, growing nearly 70 percent over the last year."

Simon Phipps InfoWorld

Seeking Stupid Software Patent Examples

Over on Google Groups, Linux advocate Kari Laine has posted a request for examples of stupid software patents, preferably from Microsoft, to be referenced in a paper opposed to software patents and the cross-licencing mania that leaves Open Source Software out in the cold.

Microsoft Patents Sudo? Groklaw

Groklaw reports.

Here it is, patent number7617530. Thanks, USPTO, for giving Microsoft, which is already a monopoly, a monopoly on something that's been in use since 1980 and wasn't invented by Microsoft. Here's Wikipedia's description of sudo, which you can meaningfully compare to Microsoft's description of its "invention".

Groklaw - Microsoft Patents Sudo?

The article contains a reprint of Wikipedia's summary of the history of the Unix (Linux, FreeBSD, Mac OS X) Sudo utility and claims that Microsoft's patent is bogus because of this prior art and that Microsoft must have known about Sudo.

NB: From 2009, but I only found it in January 2012. I've adjusted the post date appropriately.

Linux Integrators - Not getting it

Analysis on Microsoft's OOXML patent pledge from a software developers and open source viewpoint

I started trying to understand the situation and came across Microsoft's Open Source Patent Pledge which only offers individual protection when you write software but not users of that software. I was later pointed to Microsoft's Open Specification Promise and some legal analysis of it. The analysis is well written and explains that a key issue is the language "any implementation to the extent it conforms to a Covered Specification". Which means if you have bugs or partial implementations you can run afoul. Since open source development means immediate distribution of partial and sometimes alpha-ish implementations, POI will most certainly not be covered by this promise. Moreover, users which use snapshot releases most likely won't be covered

More at Linux Integrators...

Freedom gets messy

By lindseyberry Linux-Watch published an article last week about Red Hat and ESP (End Software Patents), a Free Software Foundation project, which is challenging the legal logic used for software patents. It makes sense where open source fans are coming from in wanting to change the way software patents are done.

Saucy Sourcing...

Open source launches attack on software patents

Open source launches attack on software patents

By Linux.com Admin(Linux.com Admin) Red Hat and ESP (End Software Patents), a Free Software Foundation project, are joining others in challenging the legal logic used for software patents.

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ACLU enters the software patent debate

ACLU enters the software patent debate

LinuxWorld.com - Montvale,NJ,USA EFF is looking to pick off specific patents, End Software Patents wants to fix the software patent problem for economic reasons, and now ACLU is bringing up ...

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Are software patents evil?

Are software patents evil? By ptc In fact, the very argument that "software patents are evil" is incorrect. It doesn't say that "patents are evil"; what is says is that this otherwise working fine system of patents becomes evil when applied specifically to software ...

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Software patents underlie a novel open source business model (video) By Catarina "Software patents are evil." Ask almost any free or open source software advocate, and they'll you that software patents kill creativity and keep computer science from advancing as rapidly as it would if everyone shared their basic work ...

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Microsoft's Young Siblings Harness Software Patents By Roy Schestowitz Two companies that are affiliated with Microsoft keep 'busy' on the patent front, USPTO denies problems, even wrt to software patent.

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Open Source Business Model Using Software Patents By Ryan Adams Joe Barr writes "Robin Miller has an exclusive video interview with Larry Rosen and Fred Popowich this morning on Linux.com about their new open source business model which includes software patents in its DNA. ...

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What good is a CC licensed specification? By Mike Linksvayer Software patents may be the main legal barrier to such use. This is why patent grants often get the most thorough public vetting of any non-technical aspect of a new specification and why (for example) the debate over the W3C's patent ...

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What if the alphabet was patented?

From CNet Asia Eileen Yu Reports:

"Imagine if the Egyptians had patented the alphabet and decided to make it a licensable entity. And imagine if they charged, say, $1 for the use of each letter and $2 each for vowels because, well, even vowels cost more in the game show Wheel of Fortune."

Nice analogy. Unfortunately with the way that software patents are constantly being issued for prior art, it's worse than that. If the alphabet were patented by the Egyptians with prices like that, writing would never have caught on. Imagine instead if suddenly in 2005 someone patented the idea of using the alphabet in emails? Sure we've been using the alphabet in emails since the 1980s, but somehow this gets overlooked in the issuing of patents. Yu quotes Sunil Abraham

"He referred to a Microsoft-owned patent that describes the navigation of hyperlinks via the tab key. The software giant applied for the patent in 1997 and was granted ownership to it in 2004. However, he said, these same functions can be found in some Linux-based applications since 1994"