There is much debate about whether software should be the subject of patents, or rather, copyright/copyleft. The website groklaw.net has a lot of very interesting material about this. It would be very interesting to know where the Trump dynasty stands on that; could end up making a lot of difference to the FLOSS communities and they way they work!?
Cheers Harvey On Wed, 2017-04-19 at 07:59 +0000, fudmer rieley wrote: > The Oracle purchase of Sun allows oracle to claim ownership in > application software which the whole world contributed to? > Is that correct? > > Under prior patent law, it was not the first to file but the first > to invent the objects of a patent that had the valid claim to > actual patent rights? Under current law, I understand it > now to be the first to file gets all? Is that correct. > > How does patent law work? > > A claim is made by filing the claim with the patent authority > > > Who has a valid claim one who invents or one who files. > > Think of it this way.. > > MR. Island discovers how to make an island from the sand > found at the ocean bottom.. Mr. Island uses his discovery > to produce a brand new island the size of the USA State > of say Georgia, The Island is now in the middle of the > Atlantic Ocean 450 miles off the shore of New York City. > between London and New York City. > > Dr. Patent, LLB, a Lawyer, sees that the mind of Mr. > Island has produced [invented] a very valuable method, > A method that many people would pay a lot of money to > know about because they too want to build their own > private Island in the middle of the ocean. > > Dr. Patent tells his congress, look guys I want to own the > method Mr. Island invented, please change the law so > that i can own his method. > > Congress debated the issue and decided that many wealthy > people would like to own the products (inventions) of other > people´s minds; so Congress passed a law that lets the > person who want to own the Island and the person who desire > to own the useful method invented by someone, to be able to > claim ownership in the Island and in the method to produce > the island. > > Tangible property law created, out of thin air, ownership > rights based on boundary of the property. > To claim ownership in the Island file that claim in the form > of a deed. > > Intangible property law created, out of thin air, ownership > rights in useful ways to do something. > To claim ownership in the method used to build the Island, > file a patent. > > > So on with the story, > > So to claim ownership in the Island (Mr. Island built) Dr. > Patent filed a deed, and had a judge order Mr. Island off > the Island, because the island is now owned by Dr. Patent > This is so, Dr. Patent told the judge, because I have the only > deed ever filed to claim ownership in the land. Mr. island > has no deed. The judge had no choice but to evict Mr. > Island. > > Dr. Patent told Mr. Island, if you will file a claim of ownership > (that is, a patent) in the method used (invented) to build > your Island, I will pay you enough for it, so you can live > comfortably ever after (say $1 million USD)-. > > Mr. Island was broke having been kicked off his own Island > so he signed the patent claim Dr. Patent wrote up for him, > with the Patent office. The patent office issued to Mr. > Island a patent, which Mr Island then sold to Dr. Patent > for $1 Million USD). > > So Mr. Island went to another place in the Atlantic and > used the method Mr. island invented to build another > Island.. and filed a deed claiming he owned it. > > As soon as Mr. Island moved onto his new Island, Dr. > Patent filed a patent lawsuit, claiming Mr. Island, infringed > ¨the method to build Islands¨ patent owned by Dr. Patent. > The patent court awarded Dr. Patent $1 million USD for > patent infringement and ordered Mr. Island to pay > Dr. Patent $1 million USD before the day was out. > > > From thin air the congress obliged Dr. Patent, and converted > public lands into private ownership by writing the > tangible property law (DEEDs) and again from thin air > congress created a way to for investors and others to own > the products of the human mind of inventors > (methods of doing things) intangible property law. > > Dr. Patent licensed the right to use the patent he obtained > from Mr. Island for $500,000; thus far 50 islands have been > built using Mr. Islands method owned by Dr. Patent. > $500,000 * 50 = $25,000,000 profit earned by Dr. Patent. > > > In short, Congress made it possible for Dr. Patent to steal > both Mr. Island´s Island and his invention of a method to > build such an island. > > The story explains why the top 1% own as much as the > entire 99% other percent own. > > Patents and deeds transfer ownership from the public to > the private domain, and ownership transfers wealth from > non owners. > > IANAL > > -------------------------------------------- > On Tue, 4/18/17, toki <toki.kant...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Subject: Re: [libreoffice-users] i have questions about licensing in > libreoffice. > To: users@global.libreoffice.org > Date: Tuesday, April 18, 2017, 8:44 PM > > On 04/17/2017 09:01 AM, nasrin > khaksar wrote: > > i heard sometimes that > openoffice license is license of oracle company. > > Oracle purchased Sun. That > purchase included the trademarks, copyrights, > and other intellectual property rights held by > OpenOffice.org. > > After a > couple of years, Oracle donated OpenOffice.org, including > trademarks, copyright, and other intellectual > property rights to The > Apache Software > Foundation. > > Which means > that Oracles does owns neither Apache Open Office nor > OpenOffice.org. > > However, Oracle does own Java, which is used by > both LibreOffice and > Apache Open Office. > Given a couple of somewhat bizarre legal theories, > supported by, what shall be termed > "interesting' court decisions, an > extremely shaky legal theory can be made that > Oracle owns both > LibreOffice, and Apache > Open Office. As much as I'd like to think that > Oracle has persuaded itself that ownership of > FLOSS is not possible, I > wouldn't put it > past them to be willing to squander away a trillion or > so dollars, in lawsuits to assert ownership of > LibreOffice, Apache > OpenOffice, and other > FLOSS software that it finds either inconvenience, > or a potential cash cow. > > > is it true? > > There is an apocryphal story of a first legal > intern being told examine > a software > license. In researching the license, he asked: "Is > there any > way, shape, or form, in which > Oracle can assert control of the > software?" Upon being told that Oracle was > purchasing the company that > made the > software whose license was being analysed, the intern said; > "I > can not recommend accepting this > license, because it will depend upon > Oracle. > As an Oracle license, all terms and conditions are subject > to > their specific interpretation, which > usually comes down to: "All your > bases, > they belong to us". Said intern was dully blacklisted > by the > company. A decade later, one of the > members of the board of directors > found > himself across the dinner table from said intern. The member > told > the intern that his prediction about > what Oracle would do, turned out to > be > valid, with disastrous consequences to the company. > > jonathon > > > -- > To > unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org > Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-u > nsubscribe/ > Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiqu > ette > List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ > All messages sent to this list will be publicly > archived and cannot be deleted > > -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
