Step 1... round up the lawyers

We have all heard the jokes and everyone has read the phrase before. The first step to improvement is round up the lawyers and send them to the bottom of the ocean.

If you have had your head under a rock or otherwise not seen any tech news lately you may have missed some of the latest fun with lawyers and the grand FUD they can churn up.

First Microsoft came out with a statements about how Open Source has violated 235 of their patents. Of course no details were provided on the patents themselves just a bit of churn and great press. Using their recent deal with Novell for patent sharing (Read my post on how when you wrestle a pig you both get dirty but the pig likes it for more info) as an example of "good" behavior they encouraged others to strike similar deals. Part of the real fun in all of this is how at the same time Microsoft was (out of another side of it's mouth some might say) calling for Patent reform due to suits from others against their own patent infringements.

Then the Linux foundation crafted a rebuttal. As would be expected they called out Microsoft on what the patents were. They clearly called out the FUD aspect and took a more offensive approach and begun to fund patent claims among other actions. Spinning from IBM, Sun and even Nokia releasing patents for Open Source use this approach seems to be gaining momentum.

Now the new GPLv3 is even including language that would cause Microsoft to loose rights to sue if the new Linux license terms in GPLv3 go forward. Further complicating this is how the deal with Novell may actually be what causes Microsoft to loose enforceability on the patents. Now even Novell is exploring patent reform. Even going so far as to fund "Patent Busting" activities.

Wow... I guess if you are a lawyer this would be fun or at least profitable. But as a techy I have to just sit back, pop some popcorn and watch the show.