Re: Copyright on languages

[tokpela]

If the Java API's are deemed copyrightable, then what about interfacing with the JVM? Would these APIs also be copyrighted?

Would you need a license to make a language to interface with a virtual machine? How would this affect languages such as Jython and JRuby?

How would this affect Parrot as a JVM alternative? Would this create more incentive to build on an Open Source alternative or would Parrot become a target for Oracle?

[BrowserUk]

If the Java API's are deemed copyrightable,

The jury returned, but were deadlocked on that particular part of the suite. It looks like a mis-trial, so we'll have to wait a few more months before we find out.

Even then, if that local court decides APIs are copyrightable, the smart money is that the industry will band together to get it overturned at appeal. The potential consequencies for the industry as a whole are just too wide ranging for it to stand. It would also be out of step withthe rest of the world.

I hear on the grapevine that there are some big players readying ' What's good for the goose...' suits against Oracle should they win.

would Parrot become a target for Oracle?

Until the Perl Foundation or whomever else can be cited as 'the perpetrator' gets (say) 1% as rich as Google Inc., I seriously doubt that Ellison would let slip his Dogs of Law.