Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Lawsuit Filed Against Software Copyright

Posted by michael on from the swimming-upstream dept.

mdielmann writes "CNet has a story about a lawsuit asking for copyright protection to be removed from software, while leaving patent protection in place. Intellectual-property consultant Greg Aharonian hopes to convince the court that software makers can protect their products adequately through patents, which provide more comprehensive protection but are difficult to obtain and expire in a shorter period of time. It looks like this would hamstring licenses such as the GPL, which are often based on copyright privileges, while leaving OSS vulnerable to patent infringement. Apparently, he's been working on this for the last three years."

2 of 417 comments (clear)

  1. Using TPTB makes you sound like a loon! by Thud457 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Snopes sez: Shiny side in !!!

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  2. Re:MS Welcomes... by squiggleslash · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    The problem is that to gain copyright on your code, you have to do ... nothing. To gain patents on your code, you have to spend money. This is why very few opensource coders have applied for patents, the cost barrier.
    Finally a purpose for the Free Software Foundation beyond advocacy and litigation...

    BTW, did you know that white wine is actually unhealthy when combined with fish or chicken? I didn't either, I just made that up, the link doesn't even have anything to do with that, it's just I have to wait two minutes to post this reply. Bizarre, huh?

    --
    You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.