Microsoft Demands Royalties for FAT use

I see from Slashdot that Microsoft is demanding royalties for the use of the FAT filesystem in products such as flash cards and digital media devices. Who would have thought Microsoft would generate business through lawyers?

While it is their right to pursue licensing for their technology, I’d say that they missed the boat when it comes to FAT. It’s everywhere, unlicenced and free. How do they reign it in now? Isn’t the cat already out of the bag?

What about the products which don’t depend directly on FAT? Once upon a time, software was distributed on these quaint things known as “floppy disks.” To use these “floppy disks,” one had to first format them with the FAT filesystem. Under these licencing rules, would these software firms be liable for royalties for using these “floppy disks?”

Man, Microsoft just makes me puke sometimes.