Linux backers form patent-sharing firm

Aiming to avoid royalty disputes, IBM, Sony, Philips, Red Hat and Novell create a company called Open Invention Network.

The story "Linux backers form patent-sharing firm" published November 10, 2005 at 5:17 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

Content from Reuters expires after 30 days.

[joshuasmythe]

Today servers, tomorrow the world!

Linux in traffic lights, medical devices, iPods. Soon, Linux will rule all!

Best start being nice to penguins now!

[Blito]

Sounds confusing but I think I like it

This sounds like a royalty free thing for Linux
but not only that, maybe even a royalty free
thing for beyond Linux. Hopefully this will add a
major boost to Linux' media features. Right now
you have to use a very lightweight Realplayer to
play anything on the Internet at least in these
parts (America)

Also, this reminds me of a new future we are
entering where paper or digital money just maybe
isn't all that relevant or centric anymore. Trade
and commerce will always be there of course.
Everyone has to remember that we only switched to
paper or representative money from gems and gold
in the last 100-300 years or so and never totally
as allot of people know how investing in gold etc
is very stable even today or land for that
matter.
Donald Trump has been talking on his Real Estate
tour lately how Land is so much more tangable
then stocks or paper money.

Also we have moved beyond gold and gems I think
into allot more of a diverse market culture where
products are more itemized and properly valued
because of Internet cataloging. This really all
started to get huge in the early 90s where all of
the sudden it seemed my friends had all of these
cool strange products everywhere. I was like
where did you get that? "I ordered it."

[shortyness]

Just another business strategy

Unless I see the complete terms of agreement, I don't see how this is really free for all. This is more like a scheme to lure all people from the open-source community to come and work for free. Contribute the time and innovation so that the big 3 companies can reap the profits.
They still own the patents, they haven't released it to the public. They can't fool me. I'm not falling for it. In business, nothing is free.