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CA Releases Patents to OSS

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the moving-in-the-right-direction dept.

simonfairfax writes "ComputerWorld reports that Computer Associates International has released 14 patents to the opensource community, following IBM's lead. From the article: 'CA said it is joining IBM in encouraging other companies to create an industrywide "patent commons" in which patents are pledged royalty-free to further innovation in areas of broad interest to developers and users of IT.'"

5 of 97 comments (clear)

  1. Matter meets anti-matter by Kosmatos · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wait a minute... If the open-source community now "owns" patents, what happens when they start using that new version of the GPL that prohibits use by patent owners? They won't be able to use their own code!

    Suckers :)

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  2. Oh dear... by fracex · · Score: 4, Funny

    I read that as "CA Patents OSS"

  3. The fourteen patents are: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny
    The patents are in alphabetical order:
    1. renaming file names without a keyboard connected to a VT220 terminal
    2. instructing your computer repair technician to print your invoice in duplicate
    3. OS/2 uninstaller
    4. OS/2 license perusal methodoly in high-altitude cargo airplanes
    5. process to install Win95 front-end for OS/2
    6. OPAL underlying infrastructure rejection process
    7. Mystery patent from Wang Tech #1
    8. Mystery patent from Wang Tech #2
    9. process to determine the feasibility of releasing even-numbered patents from Wang Tech
    10. The lithuanian translation process for the Magna Carta
    11. process to determine if a beverage bottle has less than 23% of its contents
    12. same as previous, but for 24%
    13. regulations to automate the process of submitting patents in California after midnight
    14. The user of the HTML tag, which expands HTML source by 2,543% which would be satisfied by simpler tags
    15. process to spin the media in believing that worthless patents for OSS is a good thing
    16. automating posts in Kuro5hin


  4. CA patented OSS? by lamber45 · · Score: 1, Funny

    I thought SCO owned the patent on Linux...

  5. Re:Yay by sootman · · Score: 2, Funny

    Sweet! "Graphical Display of Data!" I can *totally* use that! :-)

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