Krzysztof Halasa wrote: > Andy Walls <awalls@xxxxxxxxx> writes: > >> I would also note that RC-6 Mode 6A, used by most MCE remotes, was >> developed by Philips, but Microsoft has some sort of licensing interest >> in it and it is almost surely encumbered somwhow: > > I don't know about legal problems in some countries but from the > technical POV handling the protocol in the kernel is more efficient > or (/and) simpler. A software licensing from Microsoft won't apply to Linux kernel, so I'm assuming that you're referring to some patent that they could be filled about RC6 mode 6A. I don't know if is there any US patent pending about it (AFAIK, only US accepts software patents), but there are some prior-art for IR key decoding. So, I don't see what "innovation" RC6 would be adding. If it is some new way to transmit waves, the patent issues aren't related to software, and the device manufacturer had already handled it when they made their devices. If it is just a new keytable, this issue could be easily solved by loading the keytable via userspace. Also, assuming that you can use the driver only with a hardware that comes with a licensed software, the user has already the license for using it. Do you have any details on what patents they are claiming? Cheers, Mauro. -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-input" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
