From: Phil Stracchino <pstracch@cygnus.com>
Subject: [jimb@savonarola.red-bean.com: Looking for specific cases where software patents hurt free software]
To: Richard Stallman <patent-examples@gnu.org>
Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2000 02:39:18 -0800

From: Jim Blandy <jimb@savonarola.red-bean.com>
Subject: Looking for specific cases where software patents hurt free software
To: -email is unavailable-
Date: 19 Dec 2000 11:35:24 -0500
Reply-to: -email is unavailable-


------- Start of forwarded message -------
Message-Id: <200012111700.KAA21001@wijiji.santafe.edu>
From: Richard Stallman <patent-examples@gnu.org>
To: -email is unavailable-
Subject: Looking for specific cases where software patents hurt free software
Reply-to: -email is unavailable-
Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2000 10:00:08 -0700 (MST)

[Please repost this widely wherever appropriate]

We would like to collect information about cases where free software
has been harmed by software patents--that is, cases where a free
program has been withdrawn from use or interfered with, or where a
feature was taken out or never written in the first place, because of
the danger of a patent.

We hope to use this information to argue against the system of
software patents, especially in Europe where the question has become
a live political issue (see www.freepatents.org).

If you know of such a case, please write to -email is unavailable-
and tell us what happened.

----------



Well, for one example, xv-4.0 has now been delayed for something like
three years, and its author, John Bradley, threatened by Unisys' lawyers
(with Large Sums Of Money demanded, and dire warnings not to tell anyone
how Large the Sums in question were) over the GIF patent.  John Bradley
can be contacted at xv@trilon.com.



--
  Phil Stracchino, FNG/JOAT, Release Engineering
  Red Hat Sunnyvale (the Red Hat Formerly Known As Cygnus)
  email:  pstracch@cygnus.com         icb:  releng->Alaric
   cell:  408-690-4162         alpha page:  -email is unavailable-