Legal Archive

The SCO Group's legal actions against Linux have shed light on the inner workings of the open-source programming project and on the operations of a company desperate to survive. They've also created a cottage industry for conspiracy theorists over Microsoft's role in the affair.

Microsoft has agreed to a $536 million settlement with Novell stemming from long-standing anti-trust complaints. Of course, Microsoft admits no wrongdoing, as is the case with such settlements. This settlement does not cover some outstanding WordPerfect patent claims. Novell, who formerly owned WordPerfect, still intend to take Microsoft to court over that issue.

DVD copying software maker 321 Studios has closed its doors, driven out of business by a succession of court decisions that said its most popular product was illegal to distribute. Several courts subsequently ruled that even if consumers might have a theoretical right to make their own personal DVD copies, 321 Studios could not sell tools that would help them break through that copy protection.

Dan Ravicher, President, Executive Director, and Founder of the Public Patent Foundation, believes there are plenty of ways open source developers, advocates, and users can fight against innovation-hindering software patents. But he also believes fighting may be less necessary than some people think.

BTG Plc., a West Conshohocken, Pa.-based company, has filed patent infringement lawsuits against both Microsoft Corp. and Apple Computer, Inc. The firm claims that Microsoft and Apple has infringed its patent for web-based software updating technology. Our Take: Hey, they forgot to sue most Linux distros and... SkyOS.

Microsoft will pay upstart Linux seller Lindows $20 million to settle a long-running trademark dispute, according to a regulatory document filed Monday.

The battle about Software Patents in Europe seemed as good as lost. The Council of Ministers voted for a directive that basically slapped the European Parliament in the face because they shamelessly put aside a democratic decision taken by the European Parliament. And even though the Parliament still has a second reading where it will have to go trough a lot of trouble to repair the damage done by the Council, it is a serious matter that the Council of Ministers seems to have no idea how sloppy their directive is. It does allow general, broad softwarepatents, practically without restrictions even though several explanations by the Ministers say they don't.

The Patent Office's recent review of Microsoft's file system could put Linux and other GPL-licensed products at risk warn industry figures.

Speaking in London last week, Richard Stallman, founder of GNU, argued passionately against the legalisation of what he calls "software idea patents". The core of Stallman's argument is that if companies are allowed to patent software ideas, big business will ride roughshod over the smaller players, and the free software movement will be effectively strangled.

Bunker down for a spate of battles over software ownership and patents in the near future, said Usenix Association president Marshall Kirk McKusick.

FSF, the leading free software group has vowed to fight portions of a request to release information that could help the SCO Group in its legal battle against Linux.

The European Council on Tuesday approved controversial changes to the European Union's Software Patents Directive that will pave the way for widespread patenting of software in Europe.

Buried in recently published financial documents is the news that Lindows, Inc., has been engaged in a lawsuit with rival and one-time partner Xandros, Inc. since the middle of December 2002. Lindows claims that Xandros failed to repay a $750,000 loan, and that the company and other defendants engaged in fraud & criminal misrepresentation during the negotiations leading up to Lindows' investment in Xandros.

The EU commission's decision about Microsoft rose some heated discussion on nearly every part of it. Let's take an accurate look at it and discuss the hows and whys of the act that is going probably to change Europe's technological assets in the near future.