 "Open Source Violates 235 Microsoft Patents")
Microsoft lawyer Brad Smith alleges that the Linux kernel violates 42 Microsoft patents, while its user interface and other design elements infringe on a further 65. OpenOffice.org is accused of infringing 45, along with 83 more in other free and open-source programs.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer believes that Microsoft’s open-source competitors need to “play by the same rules as the rest of the business.”
In an effort to enforce these patents, Microsoft has been encouraging tech companies depending on Linux to ink patent deals, starting with its controversial pact with Novell last November.
Different companies have dealt in different ways with the open-source patent conundrum. While HP has taken a pro-patent stance, IBM, Nokia, Sun and others have granted some rights to use some of their patents in open-source software.
It’s not the first time that open-source patent concerns have arisen. A 2004 study by Open Source Risk Management, a company selling insurance against risks of using open-source software, concluded Linux could violate at least 283 patents, 27 of them Microsoft patents.
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