News about legal issues involving Linux, Open Source and Free Software

 Code sleuths, Dec 27, 2004

Among the scariest aspects of the problem is that many business executives don't know whether open-source code is in their software, or they mistakenly presume they have none. Either way they could be setting themselves up for a SCO-like lawsuit.

A new European directive could put software writers at risk of legal action, warns former programmer and technology analyst Bill Thompson.

Webmaster's note: WARNING: Laura DiDio quoted in the article

Analysts from the Yankee Group said that corporations using Linux in their IT environment should review the terms and conditions of each of their individual licensing contracts with legal counsel to determine if they have adequate indemnification coverage.

Hispalinux, a national association of Spanish GNU/Linux users has threatened legal action against the country's central government over the inability of Linux users to access the Social Security's web services.

But how big is the risk from open source software? As with much of Microsoft's spin these days, Ballmer was being, shall we say, "economical with the truth." The report he was referring to came from a consultancy named Open Source Risk Management (OSRM).

A UK lawyer has lambasted Linus Torvalds and others who have attacked the European Union proposed directive on software patents.

The European Union judge deciding whether Microsoft will have to reform its business practices will continue to take into account arguments made by Novell and a prominent technology industry group, despite settlements reached between Microsoft and those two parties earlier this month, a Microsoft spokesman said Thursday.

While people will spar over the small, but important, details of the GPL, the bottom line is that the GPL has been the foundation of open-source software. It must be revised in a way that works and gathers widespread support.

With a relatively hostile environment that has pitted proprietary software against open source as a backdrop, the Free Software Foundation, the steward of the GNU General Public License, is working on the first revamp to the license in 13 years.

PJ's resignation from OSRM might not have been necessary, one observer commented, if OSRM had done a better job of rolling out its "patent indemnity" product.

"Microsoft is up to its usual FUD [fear, uncertainty and doubt]," said Dan Ravicher, author of the study Microsoft cites, who is an attorney and executive director of PUBPAT (the Public Patent Foundation).

Is Microsoft getting ready to explore intellectual property lawsuits against Linux and open-source software?

The company plans to make indemnity a new plank in its "Get the Facts" campaign, which touts the advantages of Windows over Linux.

Proprietary software vendors are driving IT managers towards the open-source community through their high prices and restrictive licences, according to attendees at this week's Cal-IT conference.

According to Open Source company Cybersource, which has had a chat with a few lawyers, users are just as safely protected signed up with Linux.

Clearing more legal challenges, Microsoft Corp. announced important settlements Monday with rival Novell Inc. for $536 million US and with a Washington-based trade organization that had aggressively backed landmark antitrust cases against Microsoft by the U.S. government and European Union.

It has become fashionable to describe copyright, patents, and trademarks as "intellectual property." This fashion did not arise by accident -- the term systematically distorts and confuses these issues. Anyone wishing to think clearly about any of these laws would do well to resist it.

After going public, VA couldn't sustain its hardware business and morphed into VA Software, a pitiful thing now worth a mere $1.96 a share, down from $300.

A group of open source companies is backing a campaign aimed at thwarting a directive before the European Parliament and the European Union Council of Ministers that could make it legal to patent software in Europe.

Does open source software represent a viable alternative to the competing forms of proprietary software, which is licensed only for a fee?

I received many, many reactions to my decision to publish Craig James' article on reforming the patent system. One of the emails was from Richard Stallman of the Free Software Foundation, who now continues the conversation.

Black Duck has launched an application designed to spot open-source code in proprietary software - and make sure companies don't get into legal hot water

According to Oram, the implications of software licenses may lead to more companies relying on Linux, an open-source operating system.

But what I'm writing about here is a different part of the case -- how Burst claims Microsoft avoids damning documents being discovered when a record retention rule is in place. The short version of this Burst argument is that Microsoft deliberately identifies the wrong people so that retained records are useless, and records that probably should have been retained are destroyed.

It is Burst's further contention that this policy of deliberate evasion on Microsoft's part has affected other cases beyond Burst v. Microsoft, up to and including the big Department of Justice antitrust case against Microsoft that was settled a couple years ago. In fact, the major example of the technique provided in the Burst brief is from the DoJ case.

Software patents are bad for both open- and closed-source developers, not to mention for anyone who buys software. Isn't it time we get rid of them once and for all?

Linux Australia Pty Ltd has failed to gain control over a trademark and a domain name that was once linked with the company, after taking legal action in a South Australian court last week.

Linux Australia Pty Ltd -- currently trading as Openera -- applied to Adelaide's district court for a legal injunction to force two estranged former business partners to hand control of the items back to the company.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has preliminarily rejected a Microsoft patent on a system for recognizing computer files, a victory for "open source" advocates who believe computer programs and improvements should be freely shared.

Microsoft now has the right to appeal — and has vowed to do so — setting the stage for what could be long-running negotiations.

In the endless war of words and numbers between Windows and The Rest, Gartner has chipped in with a paradoxical observation. Forty percent of PCs sold with Linux installed are subsequently hosed clean and receive an illicit copy of Windows, the analysts say – and that's just in the US and Western Europe. In emerging markets, that fate awaits a full eighty percent of Linux pre-installs.

Legal wrangling over a South Australian company's attempt to trademark the term Linux Australia has taken an unusual turn.

Linux Australia Pty Ltd, currently trading as Openera, came under scrutiny from open source enthusiasts last month when it was revealed that its application to trademark Linux Australia had been challenged by Australia's peak open source body, Linux Australia Inc.

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