http://www.microsoft.com/interop/collab ... enant.mspx
Supposedly Linspire got around $20 Mil to sign on and help MS spread the FUD.Covenant to Customers
Published: July 5, 2007 | Updated: July 5, 2007
Microsoft, on behalf of itself and its Subsidiaries, hereby covenants not to sue a Customer of Linspire for infringement under Microsoft’s Covered Patents on account of such Customer’s use of specific copies of a Covered Product as originally distributed by Linspire; provided, however, the foregoing covenant is limited to only those specific copies for which such Customer has purchased a Patent SKU or Patent SKU Plus. For the avoidance of doubt, a specific copy to which bug fixes and minor updates have been applied is considered the same copy and remains covered by the above covenant provided such bug fixes and minor updates do not add substantial new functionality; an upgrade (or a new version) of a specific copy is treated as two different copies.
The above covenant is personal to any given Customer and is non-transferable. By necessity, the covenant is conditioned upon the Customer providing Microsoft, upon its request, with sufficient information to verify which copies of Client Offerings are Covered Products subject to the covenant. Microsoft reserves the right to update (including discontinue) the above covenant pursuant to the terms of the Patent Agreement between Linspire and Microsoft that was publicly announced on June 13, 2007; however, any covenant provided to specific copies of Covered Products before such update shall survive under its initial terms and conditions.
The foregoing covenant shall survive for such specific copies of Covered Products in perpetuity.
There's a good piece on it here
http://boycottnovell.com/2007/07/22/gpl ... e-finance/
