21 Sep 2012
Red Hat's new patent troll weapon: GPL violation

Far too often companies make a business decision to just roll over and play dead when confronted with the prospect of expensive and often fruitless patent litigation - not so in this case! Nice to see a legal salvo headed back at the trolls.

Red Hat has taken a unique step in defending itself from a patent infringement claim from Twin Peaks Software: a counterclaim that Twin Peaks is in copyright violation on mount, the file management app that is licensed under the GPLv2. Not only is Red Hat seeking GPL compliance, it's also going after Twin Peaks for damages and is seeking an injunction on Twin Peaks' own product sales.

(link) [IT World]

10:15 /Copywrongs | 0 comments | permanent link

Is medical science built on shaky foundations?

While this concentrates on medical research, the problem is much more widespread than that - remember cold fusion?

More than half of biomedical findings cannot be reproduced – we urgently need a way to ensure that discoveries are properly checked.

(link) [New Scientist]

10:11 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

Court rules Wal-Mart can fire legal medical marijuana user

If you ever wondered what was meant by the phrase "letter of the law", read this.

Although he lives in a state where medical marijuana is legal, a federal court ruled on Wednesday that a Michigan man could be terminated by his employer for testing positive for the drug.

(link) [The Daily Caller]

10:06 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link