Thoughts on the TomTom Settlement

Software Freedom Law Show episode 0x0B

April 14, 2009

Bradley and Karen discuss the settlement of the Microsoft/TomTom law suit and the implications for the software freedom community.

Running time: 00:34:36.

Bradley and Karen were in San Francisco attending the Linux Foundation's Collaboration Summit (00:46)
“Producer Dan” is Dan Lynch of half baked media. (01:10)
Bradley mentioned Nehru jackets, notably worn by Ricardo Montalbán as Khan in Star Trek. (01:23)
On 30 March 2009, Microsoft and TomTom settled their patent dispute. (2:30)
Bradley mentioned two articles on 29 December 2008 and on 29 January 2009 in SD Times where he and Sam Ramji debated Microsoft's policies toward the FLOSS community. (04:20)
Karen and Bradley talk about Microsoft's historic patent threats against Linux. Bradley refers to Microsoft's assertions just 16 months before its aggression with TomTom. (4:29)
Bradley mentions that many agree that Microsoft's FAT file patent should not be considered a valid patent. (6:30)
Karen discusses periodic filings required by the U.S. securities laws and thresholds of materiality for information to be included in those filings. (12:34)
Bradley mentioned Section 7 of GPLv2. (14:20)

Karen discusses the Edgar system, which has since been succeeded by IDEA. The filings that Karen mentions of Novell's agreements with Microsoft (with confidential treatment) are available here and here. (21:40)
Bradley explained the date in Section 11 of GPLv3 that puts companies on notice that side patent deals after that date would violate GPLv3. (23:18)

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