Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 16th May 2007 09:42 UTC, submitted by FreeRhino
Microsoft has said it will not sue Linux users with regards to the company's patent claims. "We're not litigating. If we wanted to we would have done so years ago," said Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft's VP for intellectual property and licensing, in an interview. When asked for a reply regarding the claim of Microsoft that the Linux kernel infringes 42 of its patents, Linus Torvalds replied: "Can you get a list of which ones? Before that, it's just FUD, and there's not a whole lot I can say or do. Is there prior art? Are they trivial and obvious to one skilled in the art? Would we need to work around them? We don't know, because all I've heard so far is just FUD. If MS actually wanted us to not infringe their patents, they'd tell us. Since they don't, that must mean that they actually prefer the FUD."
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Member since:
2005-08-18
"It's very difficult for any of us to make the assessment that there's no basis to Microsoft's claims"
On the contrary, it's actually very easy for us to make that assessment. The burden of proof is not on the accused but on the accuser. If you accuse me of something but *refuse* to provide evidence then you are full of it. At least that's a reasonable stance to take until such a time that you DO provide said evidence. How could I defend myself against your accusation if I don't know what it is exactly that I have supposedly done?