From epa98@doc.ic.ac.uk  Mon Oct 16 16:48:15 2000
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 17:48:15 +0100 (BST)
From: Edward Avis epa98@doc.ic.ac.uk
Subject: [Patents] Threats to developers

On Mon, 16 Oct 2000, PILCH Hartmut wrote:

>Individual programmers do shy away from patent threats and quite a
>few have been attacked.

I think Bruce Perens was threatened over his ElectricFence bounds
checking system for C programs by a company which obtained a patent
while he was still developing it.  Despite the fact that bounds checking
is not by any means a new idea.  Or perhaps the patent concerned bounds
checking not as such?

-- 
Ed Avis
epa98@doc.ic.ac.uk





