Patent concerns

[Tom "spot" Callaway]

On Thu, 2008-01-17 at 15:17 +0000, Free Gamer wrote:
> It's ridiculous that you can patent a gameplay style.  In any other
> western country that patent would not be granted.
> 
> Not abusing trademarks is one thing, but being forced to tip toe
> around issues like incredulous patents is a slap in the face.  So,
> only that company is allowed to make that type of game, a style that's
> been around for decades before them?

Yes, I agree, it is ridiculous. However, these are the times in which we
live, and Red Hat has decided to not take a risk around this patent set.

The owner of this particular patent is aggressively licensing it to
other people, so they see a huge value in it, and would likely go out of
their way to defend its use (especially against an entity with plenty of
money in the bank).

~spot