[Fsf-friends] Patents can Kill People

[M.Balakrishna Pillai]

On Sun, Mar 06, 2005 at 06:33:22PM +0530, Vijay Kumar wrote:
> 
> You are trying to associate
> proprietary software with patents. 
That is true.  Free Software does not require patents.
Patent holders can control/restrict use of patented softwares.

>But, a free software developer can
> also apply for a patent on a particular idea, and require that
> programs using the idea be free! And guess what, people have already
> done that. Check out 
> http://www.advogato.org/article/89.html
> http://www.levien.com/patents.html

1.  That requirement can be changed at any time by the patent holder.
2.  Does modification and distribution of modified versions permitted ?

Please correct me if I am wrong.

With regards

M.Balakrishna Pillai