Sun Patents Available to Open Source Community?
Sun Microsystems has announced that it is making 1600 patents available to the open source community.Upon a careful reading of their announcement, it looks as if these patents are only provided to that part of the open source community that is using the Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL), which is Sun's recently OSI-approved license that they intend to use for OpenSolaris. The patents don't seem to be available for just anyone in the open source/free source communities.
3 Comments:
Apparently others share my concern.
While we are speaking about Sun, here's what Sun's Johnathan Swartz had to say about IBM:
"ps. You've got to love IBM's ability to play the community. Going through some of the patents they "donated" to the open source community a few weeks back, it looks as if they all, curiously, seem to be due for payment - and thus potential expiration - this year. Were they destined for the bit bucket (turns out IBM is among the largest patent expirers in the world, along with its largest issuer).
And some of the patents have nothing to do with open source software - my favorite in the heap is this one. Not sure that's going to be quite the comfort the community's looking for. Here are a few others - for those working in gel embodiments; and for the open source doctors in the crowd.
We know we need to help the community understand how to take advantage of our grant - but at least all 1600 of the patents we've granted to the world were for operating systems and software (USPTO 700, for the wonks in the crowd)."
http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan
All the commercial companies know that F/OSS
schemes to control the re-distribution of derivative source code is preempted. IBM, Sun etc. tie worthless patents to unenforcable software license. They are having a field day out bull-s... ing each other. F/OSS people recognize this but
they are incapable of admitting why this is so.
Paul will be the first to tell you that "the attorney that represents himself has a fool for a client". The F/OSS legal community have social and idealogical biases that prevent them from providing sound legal analysis. Most fancy themselves amateur programmers and legal professionals at the forefront of a "software revolution". Unfortunately, Pro Se litigants generally end up bankrupt, in jail... or both.
There is ongoing dialog about what Sun is and isn't doing with its patents.
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