Developers working on the Higgins project want to create a tool equivalent to Microsoft's Windows CardSpace, but fear the software giant's legal wrath if they don't receive permission on certain features. Although parts of the project continue to move forward, proponents say it may not reach its full potential without Microsoft's help.
"There are some pieces that we would not be able to release that we would like to," Mary Ruddy, a Higgins project leader, said Thursday. "We want to make sure that the intellectual property for all of our open-source projects is really clean, so that people can feel confident about using our code."
In September, Microsoft pledged not to assert its patents pertaining to nearly three dozen Web services specifications. That did help the Higgins project, but developers say that wasn't enough to help them deliver all the features they hope to. They have asked Microsoft to provide guarantees that it won't sue on other parts of its intellectual property.
