---

How Much is Microsoft’s Patent Protection Worth?

[ Thanks to Matt Asay
for this link. ]

“I was reading Dave Rosenberg’s commentary on Novell’s patent
deal with Microsoft, and got to thinking about how much
‘protection’ there actually is in the relationship. Novell has been
selling this protection hard to its SUSE prospects (‘Linux is scary
because Microsoft might sue. But we have a deal with
Microsoft…;). Extortion? Sure. But for some it seems that
integrity has a price.

“For those who can’t be bought, just how much protection are you
missing? Not very much, it seems to me, and to a range of
open-source legal experts I emailed to solicit their
opinions…”

Complete
Story

Get the Free Newsletter!

Subscribe to Developer Insider for top news, trends, & analysis