[Discuss] ZFS

[tmetro-blu at vl.com (Tom Metro)]

Bill Bogstad wrote:
> matt at ciranttechnologies.com wrote:
>> Yeah, against commercial vendors, not end users.
> 
> I'm 99% sure that Ed was right.   In that RMS' video being discussed
> on a different thread, he talks about...that end users can be sued
> directly.

Correct.

The first example that came to mind was the way SCO sued DaimlerChrysler
and AutoZone:
http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/33031.html

but that was actually over (alleged) copyright (licensing) violations.

However, its easy to find other examples, like Microsoft suing HTC and
others for patent violations in their Android phones.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/oct/04/microsoft-motorola-android-patent-lawsuit

This one is a bit more murky, as it hasn't been disclosed exactly what
was in violation, and whether it was specific to customizations HTC
made, or if Microsoft just went after them as a lucrative target. (Some
articles say it is the HTC Sense UI, but that doesn't explain why they
went after Motorola)

Generally with commercially licensed software, the publisher will
indemnify the licensee from third party suits. You generally don't get
this with open source, as there are no deep pockets behind the project
(or defensive patent portfolio) to fend off attacks.

 -Tom

-- 
Tom Metro
Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA
"Enterprise solutions through open source."
Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/