The Oracle vs. Google Case Is Concerning Some Wine Developers

[phoronix]

Phoronix: The Oracle vs. Google Case Is Concerning Some Wine Developers

At the end of March the US Federal Court of Appeals made a reversal in the long-running Oracle vs. Google battle over the use of Java APIs within Android. The appeals court determined that Google's use of some Java APIs were not under fair-use, which could set a dangerous precedent for some open-source projects...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Oracle-vs-Google-Wine-API

[GunpowaderGuy]

Fair use is for derivate works , a compatible library probalby isnt ; this is backed by " one limitation on copyright is that copyright protects only the original expression of ideas, and not the underlying ideas themselves" so apis shouldnt be copyrightable

[Mr. Octus]

Fair use is for derivate works , a compatible library probalby isnt ; this is backed by " one limitation on copyright is that copyright protects only the original expression of ideas, and not the underlying ideas themselves" so apis shouldnt be copyrightable

Unfortunately the people ruling on these decisions don't even understand how computers work, let alone what an API is....

[GunpowaderGuy]

Even if a compatible framework is a derivative work , this goes against " atari corp vs nintendo " which had ruled that reverse engineering a product is fair use and the ruling that had dictated console emulators are legal

[F.Ultra]

Are there many Windows applications that use LoadLibrary in order to open the WIN32 dll:s? If not then the name of the functions can be stripped completely since a linked program should be able to link by ordinals.

[GunpowaderGuy]

Further context https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idea%E...ression_divide

[c117152]

Unfortunately the people ruling on these decisions don't even understand how computers work, let alone what an API is....

If people understood computers then we wouldn't have had software copyrights and patents in the first place since it's all math anyhow.

As for Microsoft, it's too dangerous for them to litigate this since their EU deals to avoid being declared a monopoly depend on them releasing binary specs, whitepapers and APIs for the purpose of re-implementation concerning Office and Windows OS. That's to say, depending on this litigation for the US market will doom them in the international market just like how the American automobile industry gradually built a technical gap against the Japanese through the over-reliance on US local protectionism.

[pipe13]

Further context https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idea%E...ression_divide

Thanks for the link. I'd similar concerns when this unfortunate ruling came down, but in the context of SAMBA. I think at this point in the game, network compatibility is entirely to Microsoft's benefit. But in light of the decision, it would likewise be beneficial for Redmond to issue some legal clarifications of their own. But as you note, the case isn't over and such might be premature.

[GunpowaderGuy]

The Eu and other places have copyright , patent and trademark laws that at least try to fall in line with its supossed cardinal principles ( fair use , trademark guidelines ( not with that name ) ,idea / implementation divide ) and take into account the specifics of computer software. This is One of the many , many reasons why open source software organizations shouldnt be heartquartered in the usa

[Vistaus]

The Eu and other places have copyright , patent and trademark laws that at least try to fall in line with its supossed cardinal principles ( fair use , trademark guidelines ( not with that name ) ,idea / implementation divide ) and take into account the specifics of computer software. This is One of the many , many reasons why open source software organizations shouldnt be heartquartered in the usa

Wine isn't headquartered in the USA. In fact, Wine doesn't even have an HQ given the fact that most coders are volunteers from around the world contributing in their own spare time...