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80% of MS Server Protocols Are Unpatented

Posted by timothy on from the minefield-aerobics dept.

perlow writes "ZDNet blogger Jason Perlow and Centrify's Tom Kemp discover that 80 percent of all Microsoft server protocols are un-patented. What exactly then, did SAMBA license? Are Microsoft's patent and intellectual property threats simply the growls of a paper tiger?"

9 of 136 comments (clear)

  1. It makes sense ... by utnapistim · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... afterall, to patent them, they would need to describe them :)

    --
    Tie two birds together: although they have four wings, they cannot fly. (The blind man)
    1. Re:It makes sense ... by KiltedKnight · · Score: 3, Funny
      You're making the assumption that even they know exactly what their protocols do, too.

      --
      OCO is Loco
  2. This is Protection Money by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 3, Funny

    To keep Ballmer from tossing chairs at Andrew!

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
  3. Re:WTF? by jez9999 · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'd wager dollars to donuts that it isn't patented

    Really? I'd be a bit more confident than that. Donuts are pretty expensive compared to the dollar nowadays...

    --
    == Jez ==
    Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
  4. Re:As a wild guess... by bazald · · Score: 4, Funny

    Well that is a weird analogy. Just to play devil's advocate, if someone wanted to license a sewer system, what possible use could they have for accessing the neighborhood toilets, from the direction of the sewer, no less?

    --
    Insert self-referential sig here.
  5. Re:As a wild guess... by SL+Baur · · Score: 5, Funny

    Google has the patent on toilets used for a server protocol. See http://www.google.com/tisp/index.html

  6. Re:As a wild guess... by gnick · · Score: 4, Funny

    Some of their patents are on extremely useful ideas. For example, a few years back, they patented a method for allowing user processes to perform actions with Administrator privileges. Don't you Linux fans wish that you could license something like that?

    --
    He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
  7. Re:As a wild guess... by grcumb · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's a little like licensing a sewer system in which nothing is patented except the toilets. That last 20% makes all the difference in the world.

    I don't know where you live, but in my world the toilets are the first 20% of the sewer system, not the last. I really wouldn't want to have it any other way.

    --
    Crumb's Corollary: Never bring a knife to a bun fight.
  8. Re:As a wild guess... by ozbird · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... what possible use could they have for accessing the neighborhood toilets, from the direction of the sewer, no less?

    Uh, "backdoor access"?