----- Original Message ---- From: Erik Hemdal <ehemdal@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: fedora-list@xxxxxxxxxx Sent: Saturday, July 7, 2007 10:50:31 AM Subject: Re: Here are some of my ideas for Fedora 8 and Fedora 9 > Message: 2 > Date: Fri, 06 Jul 2007 11:01:15 -0500 > From: Les Mikesell <lesmikesell@xxxxxxxxx> . . . > > > >> I think there would be an interesting legal argument that nearly all > >> potential users have already paid the relevant patent royalties > >> indirectly in the form of drivers and other software provided by the > >> hardware vendors of the devices in question (and included in the cost), > >> or in the copy of Windows they were essentially forced to buy with the > >> computer. Since they have paid to use the covered algorithms and since > >> patents cover the process not specific instances, they should be > >> permitted to use a version of it that actually works. Of course I don't > >> want to spend my own money to test this argument... > > I think you're wise. Patent licenses cover the processes, but software licenses cover the individual implementations that might use patented inventions. So you or I would probably be toast using that argument. Inventor patents an invention under Patent 1 and licenses it to Developer, who releases "Product A". This product uses the invention in Patent 1 legally, because Developer paid for a patent license. You license Product A from Developer when you buy your PC and a copy of Windows. You have a license to use the Product, but you don't have any rights to exploit Patent 1 -- just to use the particular implementation you licensed from Developer. Let's say someone else uses the invention in Patent 1 in Product B, but he doesn't obtain a patent license. If you use Product B, you are at some risk, because Product B infringes Inventor's patent rights. You might get away with it for a while, if Inventor doesn't protect his invention, or just doesn't notice that Product B came out. But you're exposed nonetheless. The gripe I have with DRM and measures against reverse-engineering is that they make tinkering impossible and illegal. If I bought a product, traditionally I could take it apart to learn how it works. I could make myself smarter, at the risk of breaking something that I paid money for. After tinkering, I still could not use the patented inventions I found unless I obtained a patent license. I could, however, try to outwit the patent holder by doing the same job in a different way. One could argue that this is a big benefit of the patent system -- it documents inventions, gives patent holders a reward, and other inventors an incentive to innovate some more. But DRM methods that make tinkering impossible and laws that make tinkering illegal destroy this benefit. Erik -- ----- End of Original Message ---- Someone on Distrowatch Weekly reported that DRM is not a very good word/acronym CRAP is better C - Content, R - Restriction, A - Annulment, and P - Protection, Cut and pasted from that page http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20070611&mode=16 274 • Windows Vista funny videos (by Beatnik on 2007-06-13 21:37:28 GMT from Panama) Hey, take a look to some funny videos about Windows Vista: 1- D.R.M. = CRAP A load of C.R.A.P. ZDNet Executive Editor David Berlind suggests that CRAP or Content, Restriction, Annulment, and Protection, is a catchier phrase than DRM - Digital Rights Management. Why does he think this technology is crap? Once you've bought music or other content to play on one device, it won't play on any other device because of the proprietary layer of CRAP http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKI_w_VBoTQ&NR=1 2- Video with a different lyric to the song "start me up" of the rolling stones when windows 95 was released, applied to their new O.S. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kql8cWqiv8&mode=related&search= 3- Windows VISTA SUCKS Horribly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0sy2i5FMcI&mode=related&search= 4- Microsoft own presentation of Vista new "voice recognition" with some "UNEXPECTED" FAILURE. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiG7KFDYkLI&mode=related&search Regards, Antonio ____________________________________________________________________________________ Boardwalk for $500? In 2007? Ha! Play Monopoly Here and Now (it's updated for today's economy) at Yahoo! Games. http://get.games.yahoo.com/proddesc?gamekey=monopolyherenow
