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FSF: Nothing Can Excuse Oracle's Patent Aggression

By Pamela Jones et al.

FSF has issued a statement about Oracle's patent infringement lawsuit against Google over Android. While Google could have avoided all this by using the GPL'd IcedTea and they have yet to take a stand against software patents, still nothing, FSF writes, can excuse Oracle's patent aggression. "Oracle is wrong to use its patents to attack Android," FSF concludes.

They have a number of suggestions on how they think you can help, including searching for prior art. The result of all this, unless Oracle changes course, will be, FSF points out, that everyone will dump Java:

Programmers will justifiably steer clear of Java when they stand to be sued if they use it in some way that Oracle doesn't like. One of the great benefits of free software is that it allows programs to be combined in ways that none of the original developers would've anticipated, to create something new and exciting. Oracle is signaling to the world that they intend to limit everyone's ability to do this with Java, and that's unjustifiable.

If you have prior art, you can place it here or on the End Software Patents wiki, as they suggest, or both.

Full post as published by Groklaw on September 09, 2010 (boomark / email).