All this recent activity and problems with Microsoft's EOLAS work around makes me think about whether "open source" is immune to this sort of stuff. Certainly the reason why patent bottom feeders like EOLAS exist are because the "intellectual property" they hold patents on allows them (and their lawyers) to get massive amounts of money from big players like Microsoft (and lesser lights also that have profit that can be snatched).
But what about "open source" ? The offense that allowed EOLAS to attack and eventually get $500 million from Microsoft almost certainly has also been committed by Netscape/Firefox. But of course since there is not much money in the coffers there and AFAIK EOLAS isn't attacking them (at least not for cash).
Maybe there is something else though. Could somebody take control and try to turn them into money making organizations, charging royalties, turning open source into a farce or are the licenses and control setups immune to that sort of intervention? What would happen if somebody sued one of the pillars of LAMP or Firefox and won?
