The United States Supreme Court will decide a case this term that could determine whether free software developers are liable for patent infringement by users of their software. In the case, Global-Tech Appliances v. SEB, the Court will decide whether a person can be liable for inducing another’s infringement of a patent by being “deliberately indifferent” to the likelihood that the patent exists. The Software Freedom Law Center, in the “friend of the court” brief it filed today, argued that this new standard would create uncertainty and discourage free software development.

Eben Moglen, Executive Director of the SFLC, testified at the Congressional “Do-Not-Track Legislation: Is Now the Right Time?” hearing held in Washington D.C. on December 2nd.

Eben’s prepared testimony is available from our site (pdf) while video of the entire hearing is available from C-Span.

As per the committee’s invitation, Eben submitted the following revised testimony (pdf).