On Wed, November 29, 2006 8:49 pm, Andrew Lentvorski wrote: > Todd Walton wrote: >> And why don't the chickensh*t MS roaches just come out and say, this >> algorithm here is our property, please remove it? > > Because the FUD is more valuable. > > See, if they point at say, "That's ours." it will disappear. And they > know it. > > However, if they can say "Linux has an unspecified liability." they can > bully some downstream businesses. They can rattle the legal sabers and > threaten combined with a big discount. If you're a medium-sized > business, you'll just punt with Microsoft for a couple more years and > let somebody else fight the battle. >
IANAL but I think Todd has a valid point. My understanding is that if you have a patent and don't defend it vigorously against what you consider infringement, then after a while you have said to the world that it is not infringement (or defensible). So I'm a Red Hat patent shark, I mark this day and start a clock, and if M$ _ever_ tries to sue, I put Dancing Boy on the stand and have him read this back, and then ask, "so why didn't you do anything?" -- Lan Barnes Tcl/Tk Enthusiast SCM Analyst Linux Guy Biodiesel Brewer -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
