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From: "Mark Haney" <mhaney@info4cars.com>
To: "James Sutherland" <jas88@cam.ac.uk>,
        "Rik van Riel" <riel@conectiva.com.br>
Cc: "Alan Olsen" <alan@clueserver.org>,
        "David D.W. Downey" <pgpkeys@hislinuxbox.com>,
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Subject: RE: Linux stifles innovation...
Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2001 11:02:30 -0500
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Okay, so if we are going to get real stupid about the whole thing, I wonder
if Microsloth is going to patent the patent?


-----Original Message-----
From: James Sutherland [mailto:jas88@hermes.cam.ac.uk]On Behalf Of James
Sutherland
Sent: Friday, February 16, 2001 10:11 AM
To: Rik van Riel
Cc: Alan Olsen; David D.W. Downey; Mark Haney;
linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: RE: Linux stifles innovation...


On Fri, 16 Feb 2001, Rik van Riel wrote:

> On Thu, 15 Feb 2001, Alan Olsen wrote:
>
> > I expect the next thing that will happen is that they will get
> > patents on key portions of their protocols and then start
> > enforcing them.
>
> If Microsoft would start pissing off IBM and other major
> companies which have big business interests in Linux by
> invoking their patents, I can just imagine IBM coming down
> on Microsoft with their own patents ...
>
> "Hey you!  Stop flipping those bits!  Hold it right there!
>  ... Don't you flip any more bits, read this patent first..."
>
> (and I'm sure they must have patents on _setting_ bits as
> well ;))

Apparently they DO have a patent on the tab key - you thought Amazon's
"one click shopping" patent was bad?!


James.


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