[texhax] TrueType

[Pierre MacKay]

A recent Wall Street Journal article suggested that TrueType font format 
and management patents were among the patent shillaleaghs that Microsoft 
intends to use to club open source software users (especially Linux 
users) into the ground.  The terms, as applied to Novell and Xandros,  
are something on the order of:  "If you pay us protection money, we 
won't kneecap your customers as they walk in your door."

Can anyone in the TeXhax community enlighten us about this matter.  If 
this is true, TTF font manipulation by TeX users with any sort of 
commercial connection is risky indeed.  It is not the same as copyright 
protection.  Even if you act in ignorance, which is entirely likely, 
since Microsoft won't specify what patents it claims are being violated, 
only that there are a lot of them, you will be crushed.

Pierre MacKay