Bet Wild Willy is going bonkers over that
announcement!  

About time!

--- Josef Lowder <joe@actionline.com> wrote:

>
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2005-11-10T134527Z_01_DIT021923_RTRUKOC_0_US-LINUX.xml
> 
> 
> (Reuters) - Three of the world's biggest electronics
> companies 
> -- IBM, Sony and Philips -- have joined forces with
> the two largest Linux 
> software distributors to create a company for
> sharing Linux patents, 
> royalty-free. 
> 
> The Open Invention Network (OIN), as the new firm
> unveiled on Thursday is 
> known, could mark a breakthrough in resolving how to
> protect vendors and 
> customers from patent royalty disputes resulting
> from freely shared Linux 
> code. 
> 
> If OIN's approach to managing intellectual property
> wins acceptance, it 
> could overcome a big stumbling block to wider
> corporate adoption of Linux 
> and pose challenges for major opponent Microsoft,
> which has argued that 
> relying on "open source" software poses legal risks.
> 
> 
> OIN is funded by the world's largest computer
> company, IBM two consumer 
> electronics giants -- Sony Corp. of Japan and
> Philips of the Netherlands -- 
> and Linux distributors Red Hat Inc. and Novell Inc. 
> 
> Market researcher IDC estimates that the worldwide
> Linux business will grow 
> 25.9 percent annually, doubling from $20 billion
> this year to more than $40 
> billion by 2008. If patent risk is lifted, Linux use
> could accelerate at an 
> even faster rate, said Richard Doherty, an industry
> consultant with 
> Envisioneering Group of Seaford, New York. 
> 
> "This is the green light that a lot of companies
> have been waiting for," 
> Doherty said. "Unless your name was Novell or Red
> Hat, you couldn't be sure 
> you had clear legal title to Linux." 
> 
> Patents owned by OIN will be available without
> payment of royalties to any 
> company, institution or individual that agrees not
> to assert its patents 
> against others who have signed a license with OIN,
> when using certain 
> Linux-related software.
> 
> Traditionally, patents have been pursued for two
> primary reasons -- to 
> defend one's own intellectual property or for barter
> to trade in 
> cross-licensing agreements to gain access to other
> companies' patents. OIN 
> represents a new form of cross-licensing that its
> backers say could spur 
> innovation.
> 
> "A lot of lawyers are going to throw their hands up
> and ask, 'How do we make 
> money from this?'" Doherty said. "The answer is:
> 'Maybe they don't.'"
> 
> "This is really about Linux and the opportunity to
> expand the Linux 
> economy," he said. "We are seeking no royalties." 
> 
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Cyclists should expect and demand safe 
accommodation on our public roads, 
just as does every other user.  

Nothing more is expected. 

Nothing less is acceptable!

Long live Knoppix!!


		
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