Oracle bands with open-source patent group

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The path to rationalization ...

Although Oracle and MS are using somewhat different strategies, the end result is really very similar. The reality is that ALL software infringes on IP at some point. The difference between Open source software and proprietary software is that the path of resolution in the case of proprietary software is familiar. 1) You discover the infringement and 2) your lawyer writes a letter and 3) you either come to some understanding or you let a court help you come to an understanding. In the case of open source software everything is different. There is usually no large company to work out a resolution with AND even the point of origin of the infringing code may not be clear, BUT it is also much easier to discover infringements in open source since the code itself is in your face. But in the realm of open source, legal action is largely impossible EXCEPT if you direct it against your own potential customers. And you only have to look at examples like SCO to see how effective that is. Another great example is the music industry. They have focused on IP enforcement for the past five years or more and their revenues continue to plunge as a result. So if you want to bring your business to ruin, start suing your customers. And many of the large software firms are tacitly acknowledging this point. With all of Ballmer's bluster about Linux IP issues, MS insiders will be quick to point out that they are not even considering any possibility of directing lawsuits toward their customers AND the remaining threat toward Linux distributors is largely hollow since the customer views their distributor as an extension of themselves. An attack against any Linux distributor would be perceived as an attack on the customer just like the music industries attacks against file sharing technology has been perceived as an attack on the customers using those technologies. So all of these large vendors are instead attempting to use diplomacy rather than force to try to salvage their IP. And that is likely to be the future for the software industry if they are to avoid the debacle that has brought the music industry to the brink of destruction.

Posted by: George Mitchell   Posted on: 03/27/07 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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