Legal Archive

Nokia Announces Patent Support to the Linux Kernel

  Submitted by Timo Saarinen Legal 32 Comments
Nokia Corporation announced that it allows all its patents to be used in the further development of the Linux Kernel. Nokia believes that open source software communities, like open standards, foster innovation and make an important contribution to the creation and rapid adaptation of technologies. Nokia also committed not to assert any of its Patents against Linux Kernel.
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GPL Under “Price Fixing” Legal Attack

  Submitted by Tyrone Miles Legal 89 Comments
The suit claims that the "Free Software Foundation has entered into contracts and otherwise conspired and agreed with individual software authors and commercial distributors of commodity software products such as Red Hat Inc. and Novell Inc. to artificially fix the prices charged for computer software programs through the promotion and use of an adhesion contract that was created, used and promoted since at least the year 1991 by the Free Software Foundation" Update: A Groklaw article casts some serious doubt on the validity of the suit and sheds some light on serious inaccuracies in the Linux Business News article linked above.
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The argument against software patents

Legal 63 Comments
We today face the risk of software patents being approved in the EU because not enough parliamentary members will be showing up to vote. Due to this it is important for those of us who oppose software patents to make sure EU parliament members see the damage software patents cause, so they realize it is important to be there to vote providing the needed absolute majority. But sending out a clear message is also important for the process of patent reform in the US and other places who have fallen into the trap of introducing them.
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EU Sleuths think Microsoft Sabotaged Windows

Legal 68 Comments
A report in today’s Wall Street Journal suggests Microsoft has fiddled with the registry in its stripped-down Windows offerings and the result is that video clips embedded into Microsoft Word documents don’t run properly, for example. The Journal quotes Jonathan Todd, a spokesman for European antitrust chief Neelie Kroes, as saying: 'The commission is still in the process of assessing ... whether Microsoft is complying properly with the requirement to offer a fully functioning version of Windows without Media Player.'
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Changes Coming to the GPL

  Submitted by techriots.com Legal 29 Comments
A News.com article speculates about what changes may come to the General Public License as Richard Stallman and co. prepare for a third revision to the license that has become so important and controversial with the rise of Linux and other GPL-licensed software.
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Poland Comes Through! – Software Patents Off the Agenda This Year

  Submitted by Rahul Sundaram Legal 29 Comments
There's been an important development in the EU software patents story we've been covering. Poland refused to go along with the software patent rubber stamp: "The Software Patent Directive has been withdrawn from the Agenda of the Agricultural Council. Poland's minister Marcinski requested it firmly at the beginning of the meeting. The Commissioner expressed regret, but the A-item has been deleted and will not be decided this year."
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Australian Police Given Power to Use Spyware

  Submitted by Kevin Chappell Legal 51 Comments
Federal and state police now have the power to use computer spyware to gather evidence in a broad range of investigations after legal changes last week. The Surveillance Devices Act allows police to obtain a warrant to use software surveillance technologies, including systems that track and log keystrokes on a computer keyboard. The law applies to the Australian Federal Police and to state police investigating Commonwealth offences. Read More ("smhguy/pass" to access)
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