Re: Place under sun (was: XPointer and Sun patent)

[James Clark <jjc@jclark.com>]

Alexey Gokhberg wrote:

> CONCLUSION: The complete implementation of XSLT 1.0 using the platform
> other than Java is not possible without the permission from Sun
> Microsystems, Inc.

I think you are mistaken.  The facts are:

1. The JDK 1.1 specification describes a process to generate a string
from

- a floating point number,
- a format string, and
- a collection of named parameters

2. The XSLT Rec requires you to implement this process.

3. The JDK 1.1 specification is copyrighted by Sun.

However, implementing a process described by a copyrighted document does
not require the permission of the copyright holder. That's what patents
are all about: if the JDK number formatting was patented, there would be
a problem. You would only violate Sun's copyright if you copied the
specification.
 
(In the case of a Java interface, in order to implement the interface
you need to create a .java file, which would arguably be a copy of part
of the specification.  No such situation arises with XSLT number
formatting.)

Note that Microsoft has implemented format-number, which I doubt it
would have done if its lawyers thought it needed permission from Sun to
do so.

James