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Anti-patent page of MySQL, now part of Sun, goes dark
Go to the MySQL Web site and try to click on the MySQL anti-software patent page, and you won't find it. It's the other shoe dropping as MySQL today became part of Sun Microsystems, which like the rest of the commercial software and services industry, considers software patents a necessary evil.
I tried to find the old MySQL page via archive.org, and I couldn't find it there either. Has anyone out there saved a copy of what the page used to say? UPDATE: Peruse older versions of the missing page here, courtesy of archive.org.
At least, for now, MySQL is still listed as a partner at nosoftwarepatents.com.
UPDATE 2/27/08 9:41 p.m.: Zack Urlocker of MySQL emailed me this evening:
"Let me find out what happened. We had some pages go missing during the rollout of new systems with the Sun integration earlier this week. We're trying to fix it all though."
UPDATE 2/28/08 6:30 a.m.: This is what Zack sent me later last evening:
"Ok, as it turns out, many of the pages that were about our corporation have been taken down; e.g. while we can influence, say, the patent policies at Sun, we don't define them.
"That said, by what I know of Sun's patent policies, I think they are pretty decent."
Posted on February 26, 2008 at 02:16 PM | Permalink
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Comments
You mean this?
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.mysql.com/company/legal/patents.html
Posted by: Colin Prince at Feb 27, 2008 1:18:43 PM
That's it, Colin, thanks! I don't know why I wasn't able to find it yesterday.
Posted by: Scott Mace at Feb 27, 2008 1:26:50 PM
The stance Sun takes on software patents is to oppose their legitimisation where they don't already exist (so for example I stood shoulder-to-shoulder with David Axmark and Mark Webbink fighting the EU patent directive) and to press for reform where they do. I'm asking about this particular page but I believe the concern we have is how Sun's position in court can be weakened by the sort of statement MySQL had posted, hence it's being re-visited.
Posted by: Simon Phipps at Feb 28, 2008 6:58:45 AM
It seems to me this could have been handled differently by Sun, given the unique history of MySQL and software patents. A better approach would have been to retain the page in question but update it with the change in position you outlined above. To simply remove the page 404 style reinforces my opinion that Sun, like all other commercial software vendors, views software patents at the very least as a necessary evil, at least in some regard.
Posted by: Scott Mace at Feb 28, 2008 7:13:12 AM
Not as a necessary evil, Scott - they are an inescapable evil over which shareholders are likely to sue becuase of the way law and society work in the US.
Posted by: Simon Phipps at Feb 28, 2008 8:26:02 AM
There is nothing inescapable or inevitable about software patents, and prominent companies such as Sun should be at the forefront of efforts to eliminate them. Anything less is simply a betrayal of free/open source developers upon which these companies substantially rely.
Posted by: Bob Mottram at Feb 28, 2008 11:03:36 AM
Simon, I agree with Bob. You're losing trust here.
Posted by: Roy Schestowitz at Feb 28, 2008 11:57:12 AM
Isnt Sun dead yet?
Posted by: joe schmoe at Feb 28, 2008 11:58:07 AM
I thought it was evolving to avoid death, but maybe I was wrong. Hopefully Sun can correct this. I've spent hundreds of hours voluntarily fighting software patents and here comes Sun abolishing an **existing** campaign against them. Not nice...
And then comes MySQL making up excuses, blaming technical difficulties or some error...
They should have learned from NetApp and become heros, not 0s (and 1s).
Posted by: Roy Schestowitz at Feb 28, 2008 12:06:54 PM
Roy,
thanks for your comments. We're not making up excuses. When Scott emailed me, that was the best I knew at the time. MySQL helped create and fund the www.nosoftwarepatents.com efforts even though we had patents for defensive purposes. Our view is to work within the system to make change.
So now we are working on updating our patent policies within Sun and as we get more info we'll post it on our web site.
--Zack
Posted by: ZUrlocker at Mar 1, 2008 2:16:56 PM
So Bob, Roy: While we're there at the forefront of neutering them (which we are FWIW), how would you like us to handle the companies who attack us? Talk is cheap when it's not your problem...
Posted by: Simon Phipps at Mar 1, 2008 5:02:16 PM
Whilst I hope the content of the page is merely being relocated to its own server rather than disappearing for good, I respect Sun's right to choose to concentrate on conducting their business in a way that respects the spirit of the patent system and leaving active lobbying to those with the resources to tackle it full-time; leading by example is more important than hosting one page of eloquent arguments.
Posted by: Jake at Apr 2, 2008 3:02:17 PM
