On Tue, Aug 24, 2004 at 01:17:07PM -0400, Holm, Mark wrote:
I don't think the license is as bad as you imply.
But do you _know_?
When you use GPL'ed source code, you accept the terms of the GPL (Ever read
it? I have.), and they are not so different from the terms of this license.
This license has a few more teeth in it, but those appear to be aimed
primarily at protecting the free distribution of SenderID technology.
Actually, I have read the GPL. In fact, I use it regularly for software
I write, be it commercial or non-commercial. I believe the GPL is
different in one very major aspect: I do not need to enter a legal
contract with a multi-national billionaire company. Furthermore, the GPL
allows others to modify and redistribute the code freely, something
which I value very much. The microsoft license takes away this right.
In short, MS won't charge if you don't charge. MS won't sue if you don't sue.
Actually, what happens if I develop a Sender-ID implementation (assuming
there is something in there to which ms will get a patent granted) and
just don't sign the license?
MS *may* sue someone who attempts to assert that they own the patented
SenderID specific inventions, not MS. Somebody who sues MS over their own
SenderID patents had better be pretty sure of their case and their business
justification for it, because MS will pull their license. (I think suits
claiming MS's SenderID patents are no good are allowed.)
This is imho a general problem with patents. If you've got money, you
can apply all you want and defend against any claim whatsoever with a
batallion of lawyers. If your pockets are not that deep, you can't apply
for patents and if you do (risking your entire business with it) you
can't defend yourself against attacks of the larger companies.
I don't know about the US patent office, but the european patent office
(which thank whomever your god is is still a minor player in software)
is entirely independent and can do with the patent money whatever they
do. This is an incentive for them to accept as many patents as possible,
because each patent will earn them a clean 30000 euros (somewhere
between 35000-40000 dollars I believe). They don't do very much
research, because that might spoil the patent application and the 30000
euro payment would be off.
I am not a lawyer. Don't take this as legal advice. It is my impression
after reading the license.
Me neither. I'm a programmer and a sysadmin, like many of us here. I
doubt there is even a single lawyer subscribed to this list. I really
should pull a few strings among my friends and business relations
though, the problem is that i'm way too busy programming and
sys-admining to figure out what the heck ms is up to now.
Koen
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K.F.J. Martens, Sonologic, http://www.sonologic.nl/
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