On Tue, 3 Jun 2003 09:06:59 -0400 (EDT), bscott wrote: > > On Mon, 2 Jun 2003, at 8:36pm, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > >> [If] you code it in PHP and never saw one letter of Amazon's code if your > >> PHP code does the same thing that Amazon's 1-Click code does then you're > >> in violation of the patent. > > > > So then, wouldn't that suggest that Linux is doomed from the start? > > Basically, patents are intended to protect ideas. If you develop a new > and valuable idea, you can patent it. That way, you can turn that idea into > a product without fear of someone else just copying your idea (and all your > hard work). If you "have the idea first", the system also rewards that. > (I'm not going to get into the arguments about how well the system works.)
Not to be splitting hairs, but one should be aware of terminology. Patents protect "mechanisms" - which are expressions of ideas. AFAIK, IANAL, ideas aren't protected - just their communication (via copyright) or implmentation (via patent) is protected. However, with the rather broad brush of the CDMA and recent PTO management changes, even this interpretation is up for debate. > Copyright protects a "written" work, such as book, an essay, or a computer > program. Two people can write two articles about the same thing, and that > is perfectly legal. But one person cannot just copy the other person's > article without permission. Copyright also protects forms of expression other than written: choreography, movies, sound recordings, ... > The law regarding "trade secrets" I really don't understand, myself. Essentially, the "secretiveness" of a work has to be proven, along with substantial efforts to keep it secret - I believe several books have been published about Unix internals, and that maintaining trade secret privileges for any Bell Labs or AT&T code will be nearly impossible as a result. However, we're talking litigation here, so its more a matter of who can afford the bigger team of lawyers longer that will determine the outcome of this case. If IBM (and others) determine that Linux will not make/save them money, or provide other market advantage, then the entire commercial Linux effort will collapse in the US - it will be up to the European Union and other countries who aren't controlled by business interests to carry the OSS/FSF/BSD/... flags. BTW: Does anyone know how the Dutch stand with respect to IP rights? Especially software patents. _______________________________________________ gnhlug-discuss mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
