[Fsf-friends] Software Patents hurt even M$.

[Arun M]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/53/29419.html

SQL Server developers face huge royalty bills. How many, how much?
 
A Washington court ruling could see SQL Server developers liable for
millions of dollars in licensing fees.

The judgment concerns a contract dispute between Timeline Inc. and
Microsoft, over three patents relating to datamarts. In Microsoft's
interpretration of its licence with Timeline, published in a press
release in July 1999, "all users of Microsoft SQL Server 7, Office 2000
and other Microsoft products that utilize this type of technology are
unencumbered by Timeline's patents."