SCO Thread that will never die (was Re: Maddog at work.)

[bscott at ntisys.com]

On Mon, 2 Jun 2003, at 8:36pm, erikprice at mac.com wrote:
>> [If] you code it in PHP and never saw one letter of Amazon's code if your
>> PHP code does the same thing that Amazon's 1-Click code does then you're
>> in violation of the patent.
> 
> So then, wouldn't that suggest that Linux is doomed from the start?

  No.

> I mean, essentially it's intended to be a Unix-like OS?  Reproducing
> function using a different implementation?

  Reproducing function is perfectly legal.  What you cannot do is use
someone else's patented idea.  Most of the techniques used in Linux are
well-known and are not patented.  Indeed, some care is taken by the FOSS
community to avoid patented algorithms.

  SCO's claims seem to vary by the week, but AFAIK, they have not claimed
patent infringement (yet).  They've been claiming copyright infringement and
theft of trade secrets.  I think.

  Basically, patents are intended to protect ideas.  If you develop a new
and valuable idea, you can patent it.  That way, you can turn that idea into
a product without fear of someone else just copying your idea (and all your
hard work).  If you "have the idea first", the system also rewards that.  
(I'm not going to get into the arguments about how well the system works.)

  Copyright protects a "written" work, such as book, an essay, or a computer
program.  Two people can write two articles about the same thing, and that
is perfectly legal.  But one person cannot just copy the other person's
article without permission.

  The law regarding "trade secrets" I really don't understand, myself.

-- 
Ben Scott <bscott at ntisys.com>
| The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do  |
| not represent the views or policy of any other person or organization. |
| All information is provided without warranty of any kind.              |