Sun to countersue NetApp over ZFS, indemnify and protect Apple's Leopard

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Stephen Shankland reports that Sun plans to countersue NetApp over ZFS, but that Apple's Leopard won't get caught in the crossfire:

"Apple is including ZFS in their upcoming Leopard OS X release. This is happening without any payment to Sun," [Sun CEO Jonathan] Schwartz said. "Under the license, we've waived all rights to sue them for any of the patents or copyright associated with ZFS. We've let Apple know we will use our patent portfolio to protect them and the Mac ZFS community from NetApp--with or without a commercial relationship to Sun."

There's a breath of fresh air. Threatening to protect customers rather than to sue them. Perhaps Microsoft should take a cue.