[linux-elitists] FAT is the new GIF?

[Jason Spence]

On Fri, Feb 27, 2009 at 12:56:02AM +0000, Dave Crossland wrote: 
> 2009/2/27 Jason Spence <jspence@lightconsulting.com>:
> > the only motivation I can think of would
> > be Microsoft demanding higher license fees for FAT implementations.
> 
> Maybe I've misunderstood the lawsuit, but er, isn't that what just started?

That's an infringement claim.  It's probably a tactic designed to get
a license fee via a settlement.  The PR blurb hints that Microsoft may
have tried to get a license fee to start with, and the litigation is a
result of TomTom turning Microsoft down.

I don't know how much it costs, since the Microsoft site [1] seems to
keep the prices under NDA, but a few other places mention around $0.25
per device, capped to $250,000 per manufacturer.  For a high volume
manufacturer, that's probably a small price to pay in exchange for
lawyer repellent.

-- 
 - Jason                                   Last known location: 98.210.123.132

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