BT

Facilitating the Spread of Knowledge and Innovation in Professional Software Development

Write for InfoQ

Topics

Choose your language

InfoQ Homepage Legal Matters Content on InfoQ

  • Google and Oracle Case Reduced

    The legal case between Google and Oracle has been reduced in scope, just as Oracle subpoenas Apache to provide information about the Harmony project.

  • Google Asserts Oracle Patents Invalid

    Google has fired back against Oracle in the ongoing JVM dispute, and is now asserting that the Oracle JVM patents are invalid because of obviousness. Things are just about to get interesting.

  • Azul Systems To Open Source Significant Technology in Managed Runtime Initiative

    Having just announced a record breaking quarter, Azul Systems are open sourcing a considerable part of their intellectual property under GPLV2, as part of a major new initiative to try and improve the performance of managed code on commodity platforms.

  • Google Has a Problem with Some Android Developers

    Google has issued lately a cease and desist order against Steve Kondik, a well known Android developer who has created CyanogenMod, a free custom Android firmware, bundling some non open source applications like Maps, GMail, Talk, YouTube, and Market. Some see this as the first friction between Google and developers.

  • Anybody May Legally Implement the C# and CLI Specifications

    Microsoft has placed C# and CLI specifications, ECMA 334 and ECMA 335, under the Community Promise which basically protects anybody implementing them in any language and in any way from being sued by Microsoft for infringing corresponding intellectual properties or patents. This is directly related to Mono, the open source .NET implementation, whose legal status was unclear until now.

  • OpenMoko Faces MP3 Patent Dispute

    The Linux-based phone, OpenMoko is currently in a patent dispute with Sisvel, the Italian patent holding firm known for its aggressive enforcement of MPEG patents.

  • Can Architects Stop Financial Ruin and Market Meltdowns?

    The purported fraud by Jerome Kerviel at Société Générale may bring down a major financial institution and may have caused markets to tumble worldwide. Attention has turned to systems intended to prevent fraud and other illegal activities. What role can software architects play in detecting and avoiding fraud and other suspicious behavior?

  • Azul Systems: Next generation Java-based 768 core server released

    Azul Systems has announced the release of their third-generation Java-based computing appliance with 768 processing cores. Azul also recently settled a lawsuit with Sun Microsystems. InfoQ caught up with Azul's Gaetan Castelein to discuss these recent events.

  • The Legal Boundaries Of Agile

    Adopting Agile practices requires a shift in the organisation on many different levels, but can making such a change lead to serious trouble?

  • Microsoft Grants Xandros Intellectual Property Assurance

    Today Microsoft and Xandros announced an agreement similar in terms to the one announced last fall with Novell. This brings the number of Linux distributions with IP assurance to two and while JBoss is mentioned in the article, noticeably missing is Red Hat. The last commitment by Microsoft is striking, as it will now endorse Xandros as the preferred Linux distribution.

  • The Story of TestDriven.NET and Visual Studio Express

    When we first reported on Jamie Cansdale's TestDriven.NET, it sounded like the classic big company bullies the little one. But as the full story was been revealed, sentiment has begun to swing from die-hard support for Jamie Cansdale to a call to boycott TestDriven.NET . InfoQ looks back at how this unfortunate incident came to pass.

  • Apache Harmony Questions Sun Regarding JCK License Terms

    Yesterday, Geir Magnusson Jr., VP of Apache Harmony, wrote an open letter to Sun Microsystems expressing dissatisfaction with IP rights restrictions in the Java Compatibility Kit license and frustration over the lack of traction discussing the matter with Sun.

  • Microsoft to Enforce User Interface Guidelines

    In order to promote the ribbon design as a replacement for menus and toolbars, Microsoft has decided to license the Office 2007 User Interface including the new "ribbon paradigm " via a set of guidelines. And unlike previous guidelines and standards, violating a "mandatory" clause carries real legal repercussions.

  • Microsoft Open Specification Promise

    Microsoft has announced the "Open Specification Promise", guaranteeing the freedom to legally implement any of the 35 Microsoft-supported Web services standards for both commercial and open source developers.

  • ThoughtWorks Responds to $43M Lawsuit Rumours

    "We are not for sale; we are not closing our doors," ThoughtWorks told InfoQ. For the last 3 years TW has been in negotiations in and out of court over $43M owed to Schroder Venture Partners. Rumours circulated over the weekend that TW would have to sell itself after a Dow Jones article claimed that a recent court order 'forced' TW to repay Schroder.

BT