If API declarations are in fact copyrightable...
Consider this, folks: if the API declarations can be copyrighted, even if you create new code underneath to implement the actual functionality, then
a) all those developers creating clean-room BIOS' for the IBM PC market back in the early 80s would be subject to penalties and the compatibles market would have been stillborn
b) a certain Finnish grad student would have been in trouble for creating an O/S kernel mimicking the UNIX docs (Ghod, don't let the SCOX zombies hear about this...)
c) Hell, *ANY* reverse-engineering effort where you take spec XYZ and create a call-compatible version is doomed.
The potential hit to the engineering & software industries here is tremendous; trying to replicate *ANY* existing functionality with new code is a potential legal minefield for the developers. Do these feckwit judges understand the impact of their ruling, or are they too busy slipping on their kneepads as they step into Ellison's secret island lair?
Biting the hand that feeds IT
