Re: [Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org>] Re: Debian & BSD concerns

[Fabrizio Polacco <fpolacco@icenet.fi>]

On Thu, Mar 11, 1999 at 08:51:42PM -0600, John Hasler wrote:
> 
> A slimy character could release a program as free software but patent a key
> algorthm, and then demand royalties from everyone who uses the program.
> 

IMHO patents protect *methods* of producing "things", and not cover the
use of the thing itself.

If the manufacturer of your car infringed someone else patent while
manufacturing your car, you, as owner of one car, cannot be sued by the
patent holder.
The patent holder can sue the manufacturer and get money for every car
produced.

So a patent holder which creates a GLP sw using his patent is granting
use of the patent to anybody else (because he CHOOSES GPL).

If the creator of the sw infringes someone else patent than he can be
sued, not the users of the sw. But the patent owner can force the
creator of the sw to retire his product (and if you have paid for that,
of if you get a damage because of this, you can sue the creator of the
sw).

But anyway this is questionable, when ther eis no commerce involved.
In most country, the law explicitly says that protection is only against
*commercial* use of the patent.
In Europe schools do not have to license patents to use them while
teaching, when teaching how to produce that thing.
And several goods are not patentable: medicines and algorithms, for
example ...

fab
-- 
| fpolacco@icenet.fi       fpolacco@debian.org       fpolacco@prosa.it
| 6F7267F5 fingerprint 57 16 C4 ED C9 86 40 7B 1A 69 A1 66 EC FB D2 5E
| fabrizio.polacco@nokia.com                     gsm: +358 40 707 2468