ZDNet: Will open source get snagged in .Net?

Surprise patents may spell trouble for open source efforts to interoperate with .NET:

"...One patent is believed to underlie Windows' file transfer protocol, which will probably be used in .Net. The patent covers only the encryption procedures for how a user password is changed, but as part of the transfer protocol, it is a potential dependency for all developers who have to mimic the Windows file system and seek to interoperate with it. For example, successful interoperation with Samba might make the Samba project subject to Microsoft demands for patent licenses and royalties.

"The real danger is that there are hidden patents" on .Net technologies, said Eric Allman, chief technology officer of Sendmail and the original author of the dominant message transfer agent software on the Internet. Developers who use .Net may be subject at any time to demands for royalties. A patent owner that declines to issue a license may also go to court and ask for an injunction against the further use of its technology, said Tim Cahn, an attorney of Legal Strategies Group, an Internet law firm in Emeryville, Calif.

Jeremy Allison, a lead developer of Samba technology for file sharing between Linux and Windows systems, said keeping an open-source project in step with Microsoft's changes to its architecture "is a constant treadmill. If they think Microsoft is going to play fair, they're insane."

Complete Story

Related Stories:

• LinuxProgramming: DotGNU and Portable.NET join forces(Aug 01, 2001)
• LinuxWorld.com: What Ximian's trying to accomplish with Mono(Jul 29, 2001)
• InfoWorld: Microsoft's bait and switch(Jul 28, 2001)
• InfoWorld: Gnome gets Mono(Jul 22, 2001)
• ZDNet UK: Linux .Net comes under threat(Jul 20, 2001)
• Ximian and Microsoft [from the Mono FAQ](Jul 17, 2001)
• Two More on Mono: Boston Globe Backgrounder and osOpinion on the LGPL(Jul 16, 2001)
• Software Uncovered.com: Unthinkable Happens Between Microsoft and Open Source(Jul 16, 2001)
• Christopher Carella: Viva Free Software!(Jul 13, 2001)
• FreeDevelopers: DotGNU: .GNU to Face Down .NET (Jul 12, 2001)
• TechWeb: Microsoft Gives Blessing To Open-Source .NET, But Analyst Smells A Rat(Jul 11, 2001)
• Two More on Mono: de Icaza on Why it Pays to Embrace .NET(Jul 10, 2001)