Message-Id: <200701020242.l022g4Qc018451@turing-police.cc.vt.edu>
To: Alan <alan@lxorguk.ukuu.org.uk>
Cc: Trent Waddington <trent.waddington@gmail.com>,
       Bernd Petrovitsch <bernd@firmix.at>,
       Erik Mouw <erik@harddisk-recovery.com>,
       Giuseppe Bilotta <bilotta78@hotpop.com>, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: Open letter to Linux kernel developers (was Re: Binary Drivers)
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Sun, 31 Dec 2006 17:09:43 GMT."
             <20061231170943.4e539935@localhost.localdomain>
From: Valdis.Kletnieks@vt.edu
References: <loom.20061215T220806-362@post.gmane.org> <200612162007.32110.marekw1977@yahoo.com.au> <4587097D.5070501@opensound.com> <13yc6wkb4m09f$.e9chic96695b.dlg@40tude.net> <200612211816.kBLIGFdf024664@turing-police.cc.vt.edu> <20061222115921.GT3073@harddisk-recovery.com> <1167568899.3318.39.camel@gimli.at.home> <3d57814d0612310503r282404afgd9b06ca57f44ab3c@mail.gmail.com>
            <20061231170943.4e539935@localhost.localdomain>
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On Sun, 31 Dec 2006 17:09:43 GMT, Alan said:

> That IP story is for the most part not even credible. If they were worried
> about "software IP" they would release hardware docs and let us get on
> with writing drivers that may well not be as cool as theirs but would
> work. If they had real IPR in their hardware then they would hold patents
> on it and would be able to take action against (or license it) to anyone
> else making hardware. That would apply even outside the USA where
> software patents are generally not valid.
> 
> The only hardware IP they'd need to protect would appear to be anything
> that revealed they used other people's IPR without permission or
> licenses. Given the Nvidia/3Dfx affair I can see why they would be
> worried about that given it cost them $70M and 1 million shares.

Hey, I started out *up front* pointing out they can't open-source the
drivers because some of the IP is other people's, didn't I? :)

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