ZDNet UK: IBM’s Open Patents are Just the First Step

“IBM’s decision to make five hundred patents available for open
source use is a welcome start to 2005. Despite Bill Gates’ recent
comparison of open source reformers with communists, the most
compelling analysis of IBM’s move is that it is entirely in the
company’s capitalistic interests so to do. It has decided that open
source creates an environment in which it can be competitive:
patents threaten open source. By making a public, irrevocable and
unambiguous commitment to use its patents in a way that encourages
open source development, IBM expects to reap concrete commercial
advantages. This is not a philosophical or moral decision…”

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