On Tue, 8 Jan 2008 08:35:36 +0000 Rui Miguel Silva Seabra rms@1407.org wrote:
=> recognizing MS Software Patents in EU
I can see how you can make this connection, but I don't think it necessarily reflects reality. The EC is with no uncertainty aware of our position against software patents, and accepting this license does in no way change our opinion that granted patents on software should be invalidated and no new patents granted on the subject.
If anything, accepting this license might be a recognision of patents in general, but it's not a recognision of software patents.
In fact, the agreement with Microsoft makes crystal clear in several places that the licensee is not waiving its right to contest the validity of the patents, and I'm quite sure this will happen at some point in time.