Patents Role in US/AU Gov't Use of Open Source?

An anonymous reader asks: "How do governments (esp. US and Australia) deal with possibility of a patent lawsuit from some company against a specific OSS product, which might be deployed by a given government department? Is there any danger for various (government or not for that matter) agencies being told 'not to use this or that software from now on' because some commercial company might be winning the patent battles in court against this particular piece of software? I can see how a small business may take such a risk, but government agencies in the US and Australia could be put off by possibility, since the costs associated with migrating to open source and then back would be rather extreme (note that we are not talking about Europe which has different take on Software Patents and consequently Munich case is not really a strong example in the US/AU context). Personally I do not like software patents and think that they only inhibit software development processes, but how would Slashdot community reason for government-wide adoption of OSS in view of possible trouble with patents?"

Comments

Ask Slashdot: I'm hungry (and other questions)

[Anonymous Coward]

Anonymous Coward writes "Once again I woke up today and found that I was hungry. This happens nearly every day. I know there must be something I can do about it, but I have been unable to find anything at Source Forge to help me. So my question to the gigantic Slashdot brain trust is this: What do you do when you are hungry and more importantly, is it open source? If it is not OSS, are there any copyright or patent issues that need to be dealt with? Also, is Google or Apple involved in any way? One more question: What degree should I get?"

Re:Ask Slashdot: I'm hungry (and other questions)

[whitehatlurker]

If you're hungry, an Apple could be involved.

Re:Ask Slashdot: I'm hungry (and other questions)

[MrAnnoyanceToYou]

Considering myself a member of the Slashdot Brain Trust by default (I wear clothing bought over five years ago, I troll online forums while bored at work, and I type faster than I write) I will try my best to answer your questions as best I can:

What do you do when you are hungry and more importantly, is it open source?

Good question! When I'm hungry, usually I like to eat whatever Cheetos, Dr. Pepper, Doritos, French Fries and Pizza. These are all CLOSED source, but food is nowhere NEAR as important as software. What goes into your computer is like, ten times as important as what goes into your body.

If it is not OSS, are there any copyright or patent issues that need to be dealt with?

Well, Doritos aren't OSS, but since I don't know how to cook anything but Ramen and microwave pizza, I'm pretty much SOL on that. I guess I could eat non-processed foods, but tehy don't keep as well or come in a shiny bag or have hot chicks advertising them.

Also, is Google or Apple involved in any way?

Ah, my area of expertise. Just so you know, you're right. Apple and Google really DO run the world from under the San Francisco Bay. They have a super-secret evil headquarters guarded by Steve Jobs' highly fashionable bandsaw-toothed barracudas and Larry Paige's Supah-Mastah-Search Stilleto Anemonae. Nothing gets by those little anemonae. So everything you do, eat, and think all day long is somehow related to Google and Apple.

As for degrees, the jury has said, "BUSINESS BUSINESS BUISNESS," all the way. Since you have to ask this question, you're qualified for nothing more than corporate dronehood, and should therefore embrace it with as much strength as possible.

Have a nice day.

From Armeggedon (the movie)

[QuantumRiff]

They walk into a hanger, and see that Nasa and the military has assembled a drill that looks amazingly like something he had come up with..
Bruce Willis: "What, did you raid the patent office and steal my designs?"
The Man: "Yep"

US answer

[LittleLebowskiUrbanA]

military action of course!

Re:US answer

[Locke2005]

The real reason we invaded Iraq: The Iraqi government was using thousands of unlicensed copies of Microsoft Office!

Bringing Microsoft To The Table

[Anonymous Coward]

We see Apple has a very small portion of the supermarket.

Anonymous Cowards have a void inside that they call hunger. They feel it almost daily. This hunger calls for action. And with the right tools and a little help, they'll make this hunger more than an opportunity to post; they'll make filling it their life. This is just one of the infinite possibilities that inspires us to create software that helps Anonymous Cowards reach thier limited potential.

Your Potential. Our Passion.

Hello, I'm From Microsoft, And I'm Here To Help

[cmholm]

A Microsoft/SCO PR flack asks: "How can I use public forums to help prevent governmental organizations from diverting taxpayer dollars from our coffers? How do governments (esp. US and Australia) deal with legal blackmail that might prevent them from using a specific OSS product, which might be deployed by a given government department? Can I create the perception of danger within various (government or not for that matter) agencies so that they'll be told 'not to use this or that software from now on' because of some virtually non-existant threat of patent battles in court going against this particular piece of software? We've already locked in small business, so they don't count. But, government agencies in the US and Australia have enough clout and a different business rationale, so I need to convince them that they'll get seriously screwed over (note that we haven't rolled the EU on s/w patents, yet). I'm really not a paid flunky for Microsoft/SCO, really, so you show me your FOSS evangelist "play book" that I won't use to craft a workaround in my astroturfing projects?"