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Bullard, Claude L (Len) wrote:
 > The GNU forces the cost of that back to the software purchaser
 > and that is unacceptable to some buyers.

 > It is a cost of doing business.  As I read these
 > RFPs, I see the indemnification clauses in all of
 > them.  This isn't new stuff.  There is naivete
 > or simple arrogance in denying it is important.

Len,

You keep implying that indemnification is automatic in the proprietary 
software world. Is that really true? Here are a few links about the MS 
SQL Server/Timeline lawsuit, where MS apparently purchased a patent 
license that covers itself but not its customers:

http://news.com.com/2100-1001-985359.html?tag=fd_top
http://www.ecommlawreport.com/ecommlawreport/article.html
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/3564

Does your company use SQL Server? Has MS indemnified you against patent 
infringment? (Reading those articles, it appears that their standard 
EULA doesn't, at least in the Timeline case.) If you're indemnifying 
your customers, exactly what risks have you assumed?

Jim


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