Patent Case With FOSS Implications

ThousandStars writes, "SCOTUSBlog posted about the liklihood that the Supreme Court will review whether an organization can get around software patents by completing the work in other countries. This case has huge implications for OSS projects with coders in the U.S., as it may inhibit, among other things, the ability of American coders to contribute to projects that violate U.S. software patents." The Patently-O blog gives background on the case.

Comments

Re:Microsoft is behind this!

[Kjella]

As much as slashdot is too focused on OSS, it's missing the bigger picture. In global corporations, most every piece of anything contains some component that is developed in the US. If that component "taints" the rest of the software so that all US patents apply, then there's countless billions to be had in patent licenses from all major coroporations. In practise it makes US patents valid world-wide, because it's impossible to have a european branch of the software, developed separately, which can implement the patented parts without creating US liability. The only viable option would be to not implement those features, hence a global monopoly to the patent holder.