[Am-info] Ruling threatens developers' wallets

[Joe Moore]

On Thu, Feb 20, 2003 at 04:10:32PM -0500, Fred A. Miller wrote:
> "In a ruling that could force royalty fees on some developers working with 
> Microsoft's SQL Server 7 data-management software, a Washington state judge 
> said Microsoft could not sublicense another company's patents to SQL 
> customers."
> 
> http://msnbc-cnet.com.com/2100-1001-985359.html?tag=lh

The Register has an interesting take on it, too:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/53/29419.html

A couple of really interesting points:
Microsoft lied to its customers.  They put out a press release in 1999 saying
all users were unencumbered by the patent.
Microsoft lied to the court.  Saying that all SQL customers would be subject
to liability.
Microsoft lied to the SEC, since the "devastating ruling" in 2002 was not
mentioned in its SEC filings.

--Joe