@ Hmm

-- quote --

Hmm, a little birdy told me that these patent trolls had a go at God's company some six months ago with this self same rubbish , then all went quiet !

Given the calibre of return fire from his lawyers , I would say they chose to run away to troll for a lesser victim !

-- end quote--

Actually, God's company took out a licence.

<http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/06/18/guipatent/index.php>

@ Chris (and others...)

Why does this stuff keep getting propagated?

Microsoft did not promise not to sue Novell for patent infringement, they promised not to sue Novell's *customers*. Novell paid $ for this.

Similarly, Novell did not promise not to sue Microsoft for patent infringement, they promised not to sue Microsoft's *customers*. Microsoft paid $ for this. (Microsoft paid more $ than Novell).

These two companies are still free to go after each other's throats if they so choose. The agreement does nothing to prevent that.