Re: [gNewSense-users] FTL patent in kernel

[Jay]

A patent exists independent of any particular code. A hacker could
violate a patent from code that she created from scratch, or code that
was modified from an existing piece of code. This is unlike copyright,
which protects a specific work (in this case, software). I agree with
Blake. Just because there is a notice that says "If you modify this
code to implement X's patent, you could be in violation of that
patent." This goes without saying in every case. Similar to the
example Blake gave, a developer could attach to his/her software a
note like this: "If you modify this software to decode/encode mp3
files, you would probably be violating a patent, so don't do this."
This means nothing. IMH, ftl.c is free.

-Jay