On Monday 01 August 2005 03:51, Noel J. Bergman wrote: > Consider that Microsoft has its own implementation of .NET. Contributing > to Mono would in no way prevent Microsoft from later enforcing its patents. > It would simply spread the infection further and faster, particularly if > people accepted your reading as legally applicable.
Hmmm... Assuming for a second that this happened and it ended up in a court, I personally think that "common sense" still exists among judges, and Microsoft would have a hard time arguing that they have rights to charge for, or prevent use of, something that was deliberately contributed to a Free Software effort. Analogy, if a company sent me 50,000 "gadgets" for free, instructing me that when combined with an off-the-shelf "widget" could be installed in a car to half the fuel consumption, would have a hard time convincing a judge that I am infringing on any patents covering this setup. Or is USA so much different from the rest of the world, where "in good faith", "intent of the law", "reasonable" and "common sense" still have legal meaning? Cheers Niclas --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
