[ros-kernel] Re: Tainted code in User32?

[Richard Campbell]

That which i said comes directly (well, it's not a quote, but it's the 
gist of it) from a legal book all about IP right in front of me.

Stephen Hodges wrote:

> I don't think I agree with that. Patents generally are more broad than 
> specific, and they usually refer to a method patent holders aren't 
> required to give the nitty gritty of the method. If google's patent 
> was specific, I'm sure we'd have mini-googles springing up already. A 
> patent is more so an idea than a specific implementation, that's what 
> they are there for.. To protect someone from profiting on someone 
> else's idea. But I wasn't suggesting that Microsoft had patented 
> Win32/NT kernel APIs. I'm saying that the APIs themselves are 
> copyrighted. The header files which contain the data structures, 
> function prototypes, macros, and so on are copyrighted material. As 
> long as ReactOS supports these identical structures, it will be 
> basically copying the SDK or DDK headers into the ROS codebase.
>  
> Stephen Hodges
> ----- Original Message -----
>
>     *From:* Richard Campbell <mailto:eek2121 at comcast.net>
>     *To:* ReactOS Kernel List <mailto:ros-kernel at reactos.com>
>     *Sent:* Monday, May 31, 2004 9:56 PM
>     *Subject:* Re: [ros-kernel] Re: Tainted code in User32?
>
>     Just remember though,
>
>     A patent is protection of a *SPECIFIC* implementation of an idea,
>     not the actual idea itself.  Therefore, ReactOS infringes on no
>     patents, and copyright infringement (should not be anyways) isn't
>     an issue, because none of the code was taken from Microsoft (that
>     i am aware of).
>
>     As far as the realities of things, by the time Microsoft starts
>     taking us to court, the ReactOS Foundation should be completely
>     set up and we should have a legal team in place to deal with such
>     threats.
>
>     Richard
>
>     Stephen Hodges wrote:
>
>>     The issue isn't over wether reverse engineering is legal or not
>>     and what purposes. It's about the fact that there is so much
>>     similarities and that there is so many duplicates. A reactOS DDK
>>     that is too different from Microsoft's would imply it's not
>>     compatible. If it was the same, that seems to be copyright
>>     infringement. It's the whole nature of the SCO crusade against Linux.
>>      
>>     If the situation were different, and say, the APIs were like
>>     electrical sockets, and instead of copyright covering that, it's
>>     a patent. APIs aren't physical per se, so it falls under
>>     intellectual property. It's a doomed goal.
>>
>>         ----- Original Message -----
>>         *From:* Steven Edwards <mailto:steven_ed4153 at yahoo.com>
>>         *To:* ReactOS Kernel List <mailto:ros-kernel at reactos.com>
>>         *Sent:* Monday, May 31, 2004 2:55 PM
>>         *Subject:* Re: [ros-kernel] Re: Tainted code in User32?
>>
>>         Hi,
>>
>>         --- Jason Filby <jasonfilby at yahoo.com
>>         <mailto:jasonfilby at yahoo.com>> wrote:
>>         > I didn't realize that the issue being debated was whether
>>         or not
>>         > reverse engineering is legal for our purposes or not. Its
>>         clearly
>>         > best
>>         > to avoid it - because even if some of us disagree on it
>>         now, it could
>>
>>         This is what I proposed last week but most of our developers
>>         do not
>>         seem to want to adopt this stance. The 9th Circus court ruled
>>         that
>>         disambly of objects was legal and fell under reverse
>>         engineering but I
>>         dont not belive we should follow thier judgement as they are
>>         the most
>>         overturned court in the US and that interpretation of the law
>>         could be
>>         changed at any time.
>>
>>         Thanks
>>         Steven
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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