[josho]

When I lived in Java based environments I would have agreed with you. But, having moved on and seen C#, Ruby/Rails, Objective-C, etc. Seeing how differently APIs have been implemented I have an appreciation for the creativity possible in API design.

But, there seems to be a balance, is the API of a single class copyrightable? No, probably not. Is the API of a large system like Java's copyrightable, I really do think so.

Having said that, I disagree with the protections an API suddenly gains once we say I have a monopoly on its use and license. E.g. This verdict likely just made every emulator an act of copyright infringement. Does intel own the API on the x86 instruction API and can lock out AMD?

[0x0]

The entire reason the PC business exploded was because the IBM BIOS (an API if I ever saw one!) was reverse engineered, documented, and then clean room reimplemented by Compaq

[mcintyre1994]

I'm not hugely aware of the intel/AMD history but as I understand AMD invented x64 and license it to Intel? That's probably over simplified, but the point potentially stands : if such a ruling applied for Intel over x86 would we expect a similar one for AMD over x64?

[sabujp]

if they did that, they would become a monopoly. It's the only reason they keep amd alive.