Patently Obvious?...

Big software industry news over the weekend. As reported in Fortune, Microsoft is claiming that various open source packages are violating Microsoft patents, and Microsoft reportedly wants open-source software users to pay royalties on 235 alleged patent violations.

The worry, according to Eben Moglen, head of the Software Freedom Law Center and long-time counsel to the FSF is" the threat of mutually assured destruction: patent Armageddon - an unending series of suits and countersuits that would hobble the industry and its customers...

This 'software armageddon' has been brewing for a while, but the saber-rattling here portends a bigger battle than we've seen so far. A lawsuit between SCO and IBM has been pending without really going anywhere since 2003, and Microsoft's alleged support for SCO in that suit looks like a prelude to the current action.

This figured to happen now, as the US Supreme court appears to be heading in the other direction on software patents, and European standards for software patents are generally much more restrictive than their American counterparts.

There should be lots more news on this brewing battle in the next couple of weeks.
UPDATE 10:00AM - Groklaw isn't worried. Great article.