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Red Hat Fights Patent Troll With GPL

Posted by Soulskill on from the mightier-than-the-sword dept.

jfruh writes "Red Hat is in the middle of a patent lawsuit with Twin Peaks Software, which claims that a Red Hat subsidiary is abusing a Twin Peaks filesystem lawsuit. Now, Red Hat is launching an intriguing countermeasure: the company claims that Twin Peaks' own closed source software violates the GPL because it makes use of an open source disk utility that Red Hat holds the copyright on. Is this a smart move on Red Hat's part?"

3 of 98 comments (clear)

  1. Doesn't matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is brilliant! Just accuse them of a GPL violation and they'll be forced to prove their source code is different by revealing it.

    It's a wonder nobody has done this before.

  2. Re:Free publicity! by sjames · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Not necessarily. It is likely that Twin Peaks kept it under their hat until Red Hat's deeper pockets were firmly committed.

  3. Re:Genius of the GPL revealed once again by Galestar · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Nearly all Android users do not care about the Linux kernel being open.

    Its not about the user caring, its about the handset manufacturers caring.

    --
    AccountKiller