From: Raoul Golan [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
>
>John Ferlito <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>
>[...]
>> Microsoft sues you and samba for copyright infringement among a
>> whole heap of other things.
>>
>> Moral: Don't browse non open source code looking for ideas.
>If it's not
>> open source then you can't use them.
>>
>
>Is this really the case? Ideas cannot have a copyright placed
>on them... they can be patented, though. Surely it's OK to
>copy a non patented idea.
The example given was more of a "search the source code for technical
details" rather than what I was referring to as "looking for good general
ideas".
In Australia you cannot patent software which makes things even more
interesting.
As for the ideas you get from the code - you can use them as long as they
are obvious and generic. You can't use them if they aren't. Naturally
someone who looks at the NT source code would not be able to work on Samba
because it is impossible to prove you haven't been influenced by the
technical details. Look at the ntfs driver thing that happened recently.
On the other hand, plenty of ex-MS employees go and work for other companies
without problems of copyright/patents (or for that matter, MS employees
plenty of people from other companies like Dave Cutler, Rick Rashid and the
guy who was responsible for Delphi). It's just a matter of where you draw
the line on IP.
John Wiltshire
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