Submission + - Microsoft's Openess is a Patent Trap
CR0WTR0B0T writes: Gartner is warning that the recent move by Microsoft to pledge more support for interoperability is really a patent trap. "IT research firm Gartner is warning open source software makers that Microsoft's pledge to open up its documentation library to third parties carries legal risks for developers who aren't careful about how they access the technical trove. 'Do not use Microsoft's documentation unless you have rigorous processes to keep track of applicable patents,' said Gartner, in a new research report." In addition, non-commercial open source could be exposed if it is used by another commercial product, and we all know how rigorous developers are following processes, right?