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New GPLv3 draft takes aim at Microsoft/Novell but loosens crypto restrictionsPosted by Ed Burnette in Dev Connection on Mar 28, 2007 2:03 PM Subscribe via RSS or Email6 comments: The Free Software Foundation (FSF) released the long-awaited third draft of the GNU General Public License (GPL) today. In this article, I highlight the major changes and discuss their implications...[Read the rest]

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Which GPL Will Be At The Bottom Of The Incline?: Do we need language against software patents in order to feel that the playing field is level? Is a license which prohibits such patents explicitly more fair than one which... [Read the rest]; Posted by Dana Blankenhorn in Open Source on: Mar 22, 2007 11:35 AM

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Niklas Zennström at VON '07: Innovation needs an open 'Net: At Video on the Net, Niklas Zennström put Skype front and center and talked about what's necessary for innovation to thrive, Jeff Pulver discussed asking for forgiveness rather than permission... [Read the rest]; Posted by Denise Howell in Lawgarithms on: Mar 20, 2007 12:57 PM
Tech Policy Summit: Patent Office head lays out reform strategy: The patent system is not broken, just not perfect. That is the viewpoint of Jon Dudas, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States... [Read the rest]; Posted by Dan Farber in Between the Lines on: Feb 27, 2007 1:04 PM
Tech Policy Summit: Fixing the patent system...soon: At the Tech Policy Summit in San Jose, the broken patent system was the topic of several panels. First, Congressman Howard Berman (D-CA) said that he coordinating with Senator Patrick... [Read the rest]; Posted by Dan Farber in Between the Lines on: Feb 26, 2007 5:39 PM
Software patents and the dependency problem: Ive long taken a dim view of software patents. I wrote this piece as far back as 2003, arguing that Europe should avoid copying the American approach to software patents,... [Read the rest]; Posted by John Carroll in John Carroll on: Feb 23, 2007 12:34 PM

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Technologists: Fix U.S. patent law now: If three technologists could tell the U.S. government what to do one of the first items would be to fix the patent system. Nothing drew the ire at a Wharton... [Read the rest]; Posted by Larry Dignan in Between the Lines on: Feb 23, 2007 10:59 AM
You can taste the irony of Microsoft's patent positions on MP3 and Linux: Yes, litigating your way to software business success has its pitfalls, and it's ironies. Trouble for Microsoft is that it has the deepest pockets in town, and therefore an IP... [Read the rest]; Posted by Dana Gardner in BriefingsDirect on: Feb 23, 2007 7:23 AM

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IP ant and IP grasshopper: The idea that the world would pay Verizon an IP tax on common Internet standards is absurd. It's just another way to keep the U.S. phone network marching backward, and... [Read the rest]; Posted by Dana Blankenhorn in Open Source on: Feb 21, 2007 8:38 AM

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Should web designs be patentable?: Web pages already have substantial trademark and copyright protection. Why should patent protections be added? [Read the rest]; Posted by Dana Blankenhorn in Open Source on: Dec 14, 2006 8:59 AM

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Do Windows users have an "undisclosed balance-sheet liability" too?: Back in November, Steve Balmer claimed Linux users had an "undisclosed balance-sheet liability" because, he said, Linux was taking advantage of Microsoft innovations and patents. Perhaps Mr. Balmer should be... [Read the rest]; Posted by Ed Burnette in Dev Connection on: Dec 11, 2006 7:38 PM

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Patent reform needs to go further: The US Supreme Court is currently hearing arguments in a case that could result in tighter rules for new patents. By dancing around the meaning of the word "obvious,"... [Read the rest]; Posted by John Carroll in John Carroll on: Nov 29, 2006 10:43 AM

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Fears of Microsoft are over-blown: Americans are not going to knuckle-under to a Microsoft monopoly on software development. More particularly, the rest of the world won't. And Microsoft doesn't do politics particularly well. [Read the rest]; Posted by Dana Blankenhorn in Open Source on: Nov 27, 2006 7:28 AM

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The commons takes on Microsoft: Which is more vital to economic growth, the idea of knowledge as property or the idea of knowledge as a commons? [Read the rest]; Posted by Dana Blankenhorn in Open Source on: Nov 24, 2006 6:37 AM

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Will Aussie patents turn Wi-Fi into a house of cards?: Get ready for the WiFi tax. Theres no way vendors can back away from the Wi-Fi "standard" (in other words, this is a house of cards that probably wont come... [Read the rest]; Posted by David Berlind in Between the Lines on: Nov 21, 2006 6:52 AM
Perhaps Microsoft will sue Red Hat for trademark infringement (vs. copyright or patent): Theres a lot of legal mumbo jumbo in this post. So, let me preface it with the official disclaimer that I am not a lawyer. But Im pretty sure Ive... [Read the rest]; Posted by David Berlind in Between the Lines on: Nov 20, 2006 1:56 PM
Ballmer a patent troll?: Users are in an uproar but, according to Groklaw, the threat is real, at least in regards those Linux users who also use Microsoft's .Net. Such enterprises will only be... [Read the rest]; Posted by Dana Blankenhorn in Open Source on: Nov 20, 2006 11:09 AM

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If Linux violates Microsoft's patents, let's see the proof: If Linux really is in violation of Microsoft patents, as Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said this week, I think Microsoft needs to show it and prove it by making some... [Read the rest]; Posted by Mary Jo Foley in All About Microsoft on: Nov 17, 2006 11:06 AM
Why IBM's patent suit against Amazon could be bad news for the entire Web: For years, there have been a handful of companies trying to figure out how to erect a toll booth on the Web, if not the Internet altogether. In other words,... [Read the rest]; Posted by David Berlind in Between the Lines on: Oct 27, 2006 1:34 PM
Microsoft holds back a few in patent promise: Microsoft is promising not to use their patents against implementations of a large number of Web Service specifications. Are they making good on their "we won't be evil either" pledge?... [Read the rest]; Posted by Ed Burnette in Dev Connection on: Sep 14, 2006 6:52 PM

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Microsoft's moves towards detente: Microsoft is showing greater willingness to make it possible for open source projects to use its technology. If only this was part of a reciprocal move from the open source... [Read the rest]; Posted by John Carroll in John Carroll on: Sep 14, 2006 12:45 PM

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Microsoft patent non-assertion covenant is remarkable: Microsoft has issued a declaration -- something it calls the Open Specification Promise -- that it won't assert certain Web services patents it holds (or may hold in the future).... [Read the rest]; Posted by David Berlind in Between the Lines on: Sep 13, 2006 10:59 AM
Microsoft takes another step down the incline: As an offensive weapon, something to be used in extracting rents from other big companies or the wider user community, software patents just don't work. [Read the rest]; Posted by Dana Blankenhorn in Open Source on: Sep 13, 2006 10:01 AM

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Microsoft opens up 35 Web services patents: Microsoft promises 'not to assert' claims to 35 Web services patents, including SOAP, WSDL, and many WS-* specs [Read the rest]; Posted by Joe McKendrick in Service Oriented on: Sep 13, 2006 7:47 AM

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Microsoft opens up 35 Web services patents: Microsoft promises 'not to assert' claims to 35 Web services patents, including SOAP, WSDL, and many WS-* specs [Read the rest]; Posted by Joe McKendrick in Service Oriented on: Sep 13, 2006 7:47 AM

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Are Maps mashups patentable?: Someone asked me today whether they could file a patent application concerning their Google Maps mashup. Not being a patent lawyer, I haven't the foggiest, but it's an interesting question.... [Read the rest]; Posted by Denise Howell in Lawgarithms on: Sep 2, 2006 10:47 PM

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Open source threatened by judicial activism: The idea of patenting software or even business methods did not come from Congress. It came from courts, whose rulings expanding patent rights made these things possible.Now those activist judges... [Read the rest]; Posted by Dana Blankenhorn in Open Source on: Aug 25, 2006 7:39 AM
Open Source and the Law: This is the final installment of our FOSS series. Hope you enjoyed it.The success of open source business models will, in the future, lead to changes in the law. The... [Read the rest]; Posted by Dana Blankenhorn in Open Source on: Aug 25, 2006 7:35 AM
Open Source and the Law: This is the final installment of our FOSS series. Hope you enjoyed it.The success of open source business models will, in the future, lead to changes in the law. The... [Read the rest]; Posted by Dana Blankenhorn in Open Source on: Aug 25, 2006 7:35 AM
Phipps calls for patent reform: "I'm convinced that the reform that's needed is a root-and-branch reform of the very concept of the patent, carried out in the light of the facts that the network is... [Read the rest]; Posted by Dana Blankenhorn in Open Source on: Aug 18, 2006 8:48 AM
Get rid of software patents says leading open source law professor: Eben Moglen, founding director of the Software Freedom Law Center, Wednesday called for reform of the US patent system as applied to software, because current laws are designed to protect... [Read the rest]; Posted by Tom Foremski in Tom Foremski: IMHO on: Aug 16, 2006 9:30 PM

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Legal wrangles and software remain on collision course: The legal wrangling of software intellectual property wars and battles is not an abstraction. It's real. [Read the rest]; Posted by Dana Gardner in BriefingsDirect on: Jul 10, 2006 8:13 AM

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The value of intellectual property - part 2: In a nanotech future, all that matters is the information required to construct a product. This will make intellectual property even more important. [Read the rest]; Posted by John Carroll in John Carroll on: Jan 17, 2006 10:17 AM

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