Thanks Tim. OpenGL, a widely used cross-platform graphics standard, may be subject to more restrictive licensing following recent claims by Microsoft that it owns patents to technology critical to the specification. While it is as yet unclear how Microsoft intends to pursue its claims, the matter underscores the increasing difficulty of creating high-tech industry standards of all kinds, particularly those that are intended to be widely available and royalty-free. The issue is particularly relevant in Europe, which is debating whether to make software more broadly patentable, as is the case in the United States.
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