The GPL and Patents
Nobody is quite sure what effect software and business method patents will have on open source software. That is because patent problems often arise from unexpected quarters. A person nobody heard of may claim that software infringes his or her patent. Suddenly software embodying that patent cannot be made, used, or sold absent a license from the patent owner—unless, of course, the patent can be designed around and similar functionality accomplished in a different way.
It may thus happen that open source software that was previously free is no longer so. But that conclusion is here just a vague abstraction. Which software and which patent, and what effect on software freedom, is a mystery until it actually happens.
The GPL ...
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