Linux Patent Suit Ruled Against Google

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Google has been ordered to pay $5M to a small company called Bedrock Computer Technologies for patent infringement. According to the story, MySpace, Yahoo, PayPal, Amazon, AOL and others have all been named as defendants in the suit as well.

A Texas jury has ruled against Google in a suit that alleged some of its use of open-source Linux code amounted to patent infringement, something that could have big implications for other companies using Linux technology and other open-source systems. In the verdict, delivered last week, the jury decided that Google should pay $5 million for the infringement.
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Filter said:
so basically it isnt cheaper to run linux over windows.
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It would take a lot more than $5 million for that to be the case. Nor do I suspect this is the end of it. That particular Texas district is famously friendly to patent trolls.
 
Runningflame570 said:
It would take a lot more than $5 million for that to be the case. Nor do I suspect this is the end of it. That particular Texas district is famously friendly to patent trolls.
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if some one used your code you wouldn't want to be compensated? I'm sure you would let it be used to make money while you get shit:rolleyes:
 
Nokia said:
if some one used your code you wouldn't want to be compensated? I'm sure you would let it be used to make money while you get shit:rolleyes:
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Note that this is a patent suit, not a copyright suit. No "theft" of code was involved.
 
Nokia said:
if some one used your code you wouldn't want to be compensated? I'm sure you would let it be used to make money while you get shit:rolleyes:
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The company that is suing hasn't created anything. It's owned by a patent lawyer...
 
Nokia said:
if some one used your code you wouldn't want to be compensated? I'm sure you would let it be used to make money while you get shit:rolleyes:
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As others have said this is not code in question, it's a patent. Based off of what I've read about this patent it would apply essentially to any on-the-fly garbage collection which means virtually everyone would infringe in some way.

It seems to me to fit the definition of an overly broad patent and frankly compared to the kinds of patent suites companies get hit with all the time this is relatively small potatoes as far as damages go.
 
All these patent trolls out there and nowhere to hide how can a jury be so obnoxiously dumb??
 
Someone, maybe more then one said that were headed to less innovation because a few companies pushed for tighter control of patents an copyrights. Well I guess were just starting to see how ridicules its gotten and my question is when are these companies going to get together and straighten out the mess they have created. People are not going to innovate or come up with new ideas if they have to worry that some troll or company is going to come after them. The cost just to do a patent search is out of the realm for the average person. Last time I checked about ten years ago it was five hundred, put a stop to an idea I had right there. There are a lot of people with great ideas and no where to go on their own without hooking up to some companies that claim to help you if your idea can be marketed.
 
Great, one of these idiots that exists just to make crap up and sue people gets free money handed to them because clueless idiots get put in a position to do so. Perhaps it's time for the jury system to go away.
 
Phoenix333 said:
Great, one of these idiots that exists just to make crap up and sue people gets free money handed to them because clueless idiots get put in a position to do so. Perhaps it's time for the jury system to go away.
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or at lest the jurys must know what the hell it is they are listening to
i think a lot of it is non-tech people getting strung along by fast talking lawyers
 
How the hell is someone suing for patent infringement on OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE...

It's Open Source... community developed... no one OWNS anything...

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding this... but from what I can tell, this "Bedrock Computer" is trying to say that they own certain open source software...
 
DeadlyAura said:
How the hell is someone suing for patent infringement on OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE...

It's Open Source... community developed... no one OWNS anything...

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding this... but from what I can tell, this "Bedrock Computer" is trying to say that they own certain open source software...
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under some kinds of GPL you cant sell or use commercially open source software or code some one else wrote
the issue here is there was no code involved but an "idea" for such code this is over the patent on the "idea" not the code it self
 
Uncle said:
There are a lot of people with great ideas and no where to go on their own without hooking up to some companies that claim to help you if your idea can be marketed.
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Oh, like the dude that sold his idea to Wham-O but his results are not typical? I have seem that commercial way too much.
 
Elios said:
under some kinds of GPL you cant sell or use commercially open source software or code some one else wrote
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This is absolutely false. The entire point of the GPL is to enable code reuse while preventing restrictions on user rights.

There is nothing that says you can't grab a random .tar.bz2 file off of the web that is GPL, make an installer for it, and sell it yourself. It just tends to be hard to do that since anyone can also go and install it themselves for free. That is why most companies that do business with GPLed software make their money on support, not the software itself.

There is no version of the GPL that bars commercial use of the software so long as the other terms of the license are followed.
 
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