Software patents in Europe 1675

On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 02:59:02 +0000, firewoodtim

What you don't understand is the interconnectivity of these patents. Every one of the big boys pretty well owns a bunch of chunks of everyone elses stuff, or at least claims it as IP. The patents are so interconnected that one moving against another would essentially start a "patent war" between the different major companies. Just like IBM got peeed at SCO for going after it, and went after SCO in return with the big guns....IBM will be *equally* peeed if Microsoft tried to ruin the good time it's having with Linux, and Open Source. Novell also. Sun also. Apple also (no linux, but lots of Open Source, and plenty of patents to fling). Get the picture? Plus plenty of smaller companies hold patents that are used by Microsoft, or the various big companies....and all would become pawns in the patent war. It wouldn't be one company against one company...it would be a complete clusterf***. Everyone would get in on this.

Microsoft doesn't hold all the world's patents, and Linux has some very powerful friends. Try to extort Linux with these bogus patents....and Microsoft will find themselves having having a bunch of powerful enemies at their throats with patents of their own. Understand?