Linux News

you are here: Home Potentially the Beginning of the End of Microsoft’s Patent Extortion. Why Pay The WINTAX? Wakeup.

20 -May -2012 - 22:30
Friday, 25 November 2011 15:49

Potentially the Beginning of the End of Microsoft’s Patent Extortion. Why Pay The WINTAX? Wakeup.

Summary:

Barnes & Noble challenges specific Microsoft patents and other Microsoft patents are being ridiculed not just for triviality but for their daunting effect on society

This month we became aware of an important development that could put to rest Microsoft’s racketeering-type practices against Linux/Android. Microsoft uses patent trolls and threats (under NDAs) to raise the cost of the competition while making a cash cow out of it. The injustice is clear and action is required.

Mr. Pogson

The reason B&N can do that so easily is that there is rarely anything new in software. The machines limit the possible steps to what will fit in storage. Anything is possible and if you know how to do X and Y, you automatically know how to do X+Y. It’s obvious and so unpatentable. It’s so hilarious. At one point, B&N even lists IE 1.0 as prior art preventing an invention being patentable. It’s true. M$ filed a patent application for something it had already inflicted on the public. Patents may only be issued for something novel. No matter how many hundreds of patents M$ claims Linux violates, Linux violates nothing because it’s all been done before M$ even existed and patents if any from the good old days have long since expired.

stop-paying

Barnes & Noble

Revealing Microsoft’s ‘Secret’ Patents, Which It Believes Cover Android

Earlier this year, Microsoft continued its shakedown war against all things Android by suing Barnes & Noble for patent infringement over the Nook. As we discussed, B&N is fighting back in a big way, claiming that Microsoft’s shakedown tactics are an antitrust violation. As that effort moves forward, it’s beginning to reveal a ton of useful info. While Microsoft continues to try to keep the patents it’s using in these shakedowns “secret,” B&N has been revealing them.{/tabs

Microsoft was never quite so popular. The company’s entire history is paved with stories about deceit, theft, sabotage, cheating, and obstruction of justice. Google is currently trying to catch up with the patent race [12] and Microsoft lobbyists berate Google over it. It’s all part of the spin. To quote an example of it: “Despite being a very vocal opponent of software patents and how they’re used, Google recently applied for a patent on its variant of a slide-to-unlock feature. If you’ve ever participated in, or even observed, the heated debates over software patents, then you’re likely familiar with Apple’s slide-to-unlock patents (the first issued in 2010; the second issued this year). It’s a controversial topic and Google’s attempt to get into this patent space is interesting — so let’s take a closer look at what’s actually going on.”

In this case, as Google never sues with patents and is only being sued (directly or directly) with them, it is reasonable to let it slide [pun intended]. As long as Google is vocally against software patents, its patents are no worse than Red Hat’s, for example. Mike Masnick writes about the legal counter-action which we suspect is backed by Google:

Judgement day is imminent for M$.

microsoft-antitrust-300x270

SOURCE



Read 427 times