[DotGNU]Microsoft prohibits GPLed work via licensing of CIFS standards

[Tony Stanco]

 

FYI...

http://www.advogato.org/article/453.html

Microsoft prohibits GPLed work via licensing of CIFS standards
Posted 4 Apr 2002 by atai (Journeyer)

In its continuous battle against the GPL, Microsoft is trying a new
tactic, a combination of patent claims and licensing of technical
standards. In the "Royalty-Free CIFS Technical Reference License
Agreement", Microsoft defines the GNU GPL as an "IPR Impairing License"
and requires companies not to distribute their implementations of the CIFS
specification "in any manner that would subject such Company
Implementation to the terms of an IPR Impairing License." This attack is
clearly aimed at the successful GPLed CIFS implementation, Samba.

The license defines

1.4 "IPR Impairing License" shall mean the GNU General Public License, the
GNU Lesser/Library General Public License, and any license that requires
in any instance that other software distributed with software subject to
such license (a) be disclosed and distributed in source code form; (b) be
licensed for purposes of making derivative works; or (c) be
redistributable at no charge.

and

1.6 "Necessary Claims" shall mean those claims of a patent or patent
application, including without limitation, United States Patents Nos.
5,265,261 and 5,437,013, which (a) are owned, controlled or sublicenseable
by Microsoft without payment of a fee to an unaffiliated third party; and
(b) are necessarily infringed by implementing the CIFS communication
protocol as set forth in the Technical Reference, wherein a claim is
necessarily infringed only when there are no technically reasonable
alternatives to such infringement.

And it requires

3.3 IPR Impairing License Restrictions. For reasons, including without
limitation, because (i) Company does not have the right to sublicense its
rights to the Necessary Claims and (ii) Company's license rights hereunder
to Microsoft's intellectual property are limited in scope, Company shall
not distribute any Company Implementation in any manner that would subject
such Company Implementation to the terms of an IPR Impairing License.