[Leaplist] FYI, evidence of realities of IP

[Damien McKenna]

A little known fact: the wonderful and ubiquitous bzip2 compression utility
is a rewrite of an older utility called bzip.  The original bzip used an
algorithm that was patented by a 3rd party so the offending code was
replaced, thus bzip2.
http://www.freshports.org/archivers/bzip/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bzip2

This is just a tiny, day-to-day example of the fact that IP effects
everything we do with a computer, especially the software that we write as
developers.  Despite the intentions of the GPL, the noble goal of living in
a world free of anti-competitive restraints, and the years of people's lives
donated to a good cause, we live in a world restricted by laws that control
what we may and may not do, including the fact that you cannot infringe upon
someone else's intellectual property (IP) without repercussions.

Just food for thought.

-- 
Damien McKenna - Web Developer - damien.mckenna at thelimucompany.com
The Limu Company - http://www.thelimucompany.com/ - 407-804-1014
#include <stdjoke.h>