Following last week's conversation of the 'European DMCA' in all its glory, I was darkly amused by this news article:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2801560,00.html?chkpt=zdnnp1tp...
in which the (unsurprising) revelation is made by Jeremy Allison of the Samba development team that Microsoft have strategically patented parts of the .Net technology. Apparently this came to light when whilst discussing the Server Message Block's password changing scheme with 'a Microsoft representative', the said representative added, "You know we have a patent on this, don't you?"
So Windows' file transfer protocol as seen in .Net includes these patented encryption procedures for changing user passwords, which is, to quote the article, "a potential dependancy for all developers who have to mimic the Windows file system and seek to interoperate with it."
I think I'll let Allison have the last word with his comment on keeping Samba in step with Microsoft's changing architecture: "[it] is a constant treadmill. If they think Microsoft is going to play fair, they're insane."
One funny thing about the world of IT is that any nightmare you're likely to come up with isn't just plausible but in fact already happened, at least if you find ZDnet reliable.
Em