[diskussion] Fwd: Microsoft sues TomTom over FAT patents

[Jeremiah Foster]

>
> On Mar 16, 2009, at 1:14 PM, Jonas Islander wrote:
>
>> 2009/3/15 Jeremiah Foster <jeremiah at jeremiahfoster.com>:
>>
>>> Definitely. This case is specifically about the GPL, for example  
>>> here
>>> is a quote by Jeremy Allison of Samba;
>>>
>>> "[,,,] Make no mistake, this is intended to force Tom Tom to  
>>> violate the GPL,
>>> or change to Microsoft embedded software."
>>
>> That's interesting. Could you elaborate? How would Tom Tom be forced
>> to violate the GPL?
>
> If you sign patent protection, you cannot distribute that patent  
> protected code, if it is under the GPL. Tom Tom uses the linux  
> kernel to access FAT partitions so if they signed patent protection  
> with Microsoft, they cannot distribute the linux kernel without  
> violating the GPL. This means they cannot distribute their software  
> at all.
>
> The claim is that Microsoft has been doing this type of deal in  
> secret with lots of companies, forcing them to sign NDA's, therefor  
> there are lots of companies violating the GPL. The goal is to make  
> embedded linux, or linux at all, as expensive as Microsoft's product  
> so that they can argue there is no cost savings with linux.
>
> Tom Tom stood up to Microsoft's blackmail, and it might have been a  
> smart move. There is support, both commercial and legal, for linux  
> these days and there appears to be enough prior art to invalidate  
> Microsoft's patent claims on FAT. But it is important to never use  
> filesystems, tools, cloud computing, software, etc. that is not GPL  
> - you give away your freedom if you do.
>
> This whole issue can be easily solved by forcing flash disk  
> manufacturers to use another file system other than FAT.
>
> Finally, as Jeremy Allison says, make no mistake. This is a direct  
> attack on linux, Microsoft is a monopoly that uses ruthless business  
> practices to survive, it is directly threatened by linux.
>
> Jeremiah

Somehow this didn't make it to the list.