Ouch!

[STYMA, ROBERT E (ROBERT)]

> Robert P. J. Day:
> > i'm not sure i agree.  as a previous poster mentioned, a patent on
> > the long names featurs of FAT has the potential to impact a lot of
> > handheld/digital/personal devices -- PDAs, digital cameras, etc.
> 
> Microsoft hoping to rake in more revenue from appliances using *their*
> technology, more than trying to prevent people using it...
> 
> Wouldn't such devices be better off with something like UDF, instead
> though?
> 
This raises the question as to exactly what would have to be licensed.
Since the format of a FAT file system has long been documented would
you need a license to read at FAT file system, write a FAT file system, 
create a FAT file system, or just have the file system on a device?