Is this more saber-rattling by Microsoft or are they actually setting up for legal action? The story says: "'People who use Red Hat, at least with respect to our intellectual property, in a sense have an obligation eventually to compensate us,' Ballmer stated, according to news reports, and a video of his remarks posted online." In the meantime, Microsoft also announced that Bill Hilf got a promotion. Hilf, who came to Microsoft in 2003, previously had led IBM's Linux/Open Source Software technical strategy. He was brought to Microsoft to help stamp out the ill will generated by its Get the Facts campaign.
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Based on previous patent cases
Patent threats against open source have been around for more than 20 years now -- one of the first GNU utilities was "gzip" which had to use a different algorithm from the Unix "compress" program. So there are several predictable things that will probably happen if Microsoft files an actual lawsuit.
They're pretty clearly not intending to sue, since that would make it harder for them to lobby for software patents outside the US. The best case for them would be to get everyone who uses software to pay Microsoft automatically, just like everyone in the US who runs a bar that plays music pays ASCAP/BMI.
computer patents should only last 5 years
5 years is a long, long, time in computer development, and any patent lasting longer than that is going to effectively throttle progress in that area of development for a disproportionate amount of time. Patents should be much, much harder to get, with 10x the criteria. They should be a rare, and noteworthy item.
Microsoft needs to sue, or
Microsoft needs to sue, or shut up. They've proven only that they're guilty of slander. There's no doubt that Microsoft is trying to scare away Red Hat customers without a shred of proof. Perhaps Red Hat should jump on this... Microsoft, provide the proof now or we're suing for corporate slander.