Anyone done the research: SCO, IBM and software patents.

[Russell McOrmond <russell@flora.ca>]

  I have not done the research, but am wondering if anyone else has.  As 
part of the SCO-vs-IBM copyright case there was a counter-lawsuit from IBM 
alleging that SCO is infringing on some of IBM's software patents.

  What are these patents?  What methods do they relate to, and in what
software?  Has IBM made a public license available to these under which
SCO broke the conditions, or is this yet another patent in IBM's portfolio
that they select who they sue based on whether they they feel like
squishing a competitor or not?

  I am trying to make sense out of why the community thinks that SCO is
bad for claiming ownership over someone else's work using copyright law,
but that there is not yet a general concern about IBM's claim against
someone else's work using patent law.  I see IBM and their pro-swpat
extremist lobbying and growing patent portfolio to be a far greater threat
to FLOSS than even the worst case scenarios with the SCO case, and yet
there are few who agree and/or understand at this point.

---
 Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/> 
 Governance software that controls ICT, automates government policy, or
 electronically counts votes, shouldn't be bought any more than 
 politicians should be bought.  -- http://www.flora.ca/russell/