http://linux-foundation.org/weblogs/legal Legal Issues Affecting Linux and Open Source Mon, 01 Sep 2008 20:29:07 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en In the latest twist in the OOXML - ODF document format story, ISO and IEC, two of the most venerable standards organizations in the world, have been dealt a slap by government IT agencies in six countries. In a public statement, the agencies deplore the refusal of ISO and ... http://linux-foundation.org/weblogs/legal/2008/09/01/six-nations-just-say-no-to-isoiec/ ISO and IEC have announced the rejection of the four appeals submitted by the National Bodies of Brazil, India, South Africa and Venezuela, as earlier recommended by the Secretaries General of each of the two standards organizations. to their respective management boards not to give the appeals further consideration. ... http://linux-foundation.org/weblogs/legal/2008/08/15/isoiec-reject-ooxml-appeals-paving-way-to-publication/ Today those who believe in free content and free and open source software won a major victory in court. The underlying facts, and counsel, were hardly major figures on the commercial landscape: the open source software at issue had been developed for model train buffs under an infrequently used ... http://linux-foundation.org/weblogs/legal/2008/08/13/a-big-day-in-court-for-the-foss-community/ The latest edition of Linux World ground to a halt in San Francisco today. I made it into town just last night for a VIP party hosted by the Linux Foundation where I caught up with lots of the true believer friends (developers, journalists and corporate supporters), and for ... http://linux-foundation.org/weblogs/legal/2008/08/08/linux-world-2008streets-of-san-francisco/ Ever since Steve Jobs addressed the adoring crowds at this year's Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, the press, Apple fans - and most especially, Apple investors - have been concerned over the state of his health. The reasons are obvious: Five years ago, Jobs announced that he had been diagnosed, ... http://linux-foundation.org/weblogs/legal/2008/07/26/putting-the-sneer-before-the-scoop-joe-nocera-and-steve-jobs/ Back in December of last year, Google posted a brief announcement of a new experiment in online publishing. At first blush it seemed to represent a challenge to the Wikipedia - but with a few differences. Google summarized the concept as follows: Earlier this week, we started inviting a ... http://linux-foundation.org/weblogs/legal/2008/07/25/whither-the-knol-google-takes-a-new-experiment-live/ Long time followers of the ODF-OOXML story will recall that there is a third editable, XML-based document format in the race to create the documentary record of history. That contender is called UOF - for Uniform Office Format, and it has been under development in China since 2002. ... http://linux-foundation.org/weblogs/legal/2008/07/21/dont-forget-uof-here-comes-eioffice-2009/ Although I'm a little late doing so, I'd like to add my voice to Amanda McPherson's in welcoming Brian Proffitt to the Linux Foundation. Amanda is the Linux Foundation's Vice President, Marketing and Developer Programs, and posted the official welcome on Thursday at the Linux Foundation Web site here. As ... http://linux-foundation.org/weblogs/legal/2008/07/19/welcoming-brian-proffitt-and-looking-forward-to-the-ldn/ Last night someone sent me a copy of a document delivered by the CEOs of ISO and IEC earlier that day to the ISO Technical Management Board (TMB). That documents summarizes the four appeals filed in relation to the adoption of DIS 29500 (OOXML), and provides a response ... http://linux-foundation.org/weblogs/legal/2008/07/09/iso-tmb-recommends-rejection-of-ooxml-appeals/ Microsoft has made many acquisitions for many reasons over its history - 122 to date, according to the list maintained at the Wikipedia. Almost 100 of these have been consummated in the last decade, as the company that triumphed in operating system and office productivity software has sought (often ... http://linux-foundation.org/weblogs/legal/2008/07/08/post-gates-microsoft-competition-and-the-semantic-web/