Bonum Certa Men Certa

Linspire: Deep in Lawsuits Despite (or Because of) Deal with Microsoft

Linspire Illusion of safety in peace deals involving software patents

IN OUR most recent post about the demise of Linspire [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11] and death of the "Linspire" brand, we did bother to reiterate the argument that the deal with Microsoft had a lot to do with it. It made Linspire seem like a sore loser among the community which it had betrayed, so it no longer received recommendations from the people who have impact on key decisions. Linspire was, in essence, passed over.



Several lawsuits are now looming over for Linspire's founder (Robertson) to deal with, the latest of which comes from Kevin Carmony and folks. SJVN, who has several friends at what was once known as Linspire (or Lindows), reports:

Now, on October 15th, Carmony continues his war against his Robertson. Carmony reports in his blog that “Robertson and [Larry] Kettler [Linspire's CEO before its sale to Xandros] finally responded to the suit, and I got a copy of their response. From what I could see, what they produced did not provide any meaningful data on the missing cash.” So it is that Carmony still wants to know “What happened with the millions of dollars in missing cash and other Linspire assets?”

While the lawsuit seems unlikely to dissolve the acquisition of Linspire by Xandros, the battle over exactly how and why Linspire disappeared and what happened to its assets seems destined to be settled in a California court-room.


EMI has been chasing Robertson as well and here is one of the latest reports about it.

EMI’s lawsuit against Robertson’s website, however, will proceed. Sideload.com, launched in early 2006, allows users to store MP3 files in applications that make them playable with PCs, consoles, DVRs, Internet radios, and cell phones.

“I look forward to explaining to the court how MP3tunes is making it possible for more than 150,000 people to listen to their music everywhere, including some EMI person nel who have personally complimented me on our system.…

Robertson’s MP3.com was sued in 2000 by record labels and music publishers, resulting in a settlement of over $100 million. His AnywhereCD venture was shut down after being sued by Warner Brothers, and Robertson was sued for trademark infringement by Microsoft for calling another venture Lindows. He was forced to rename it Linspire.


Some people applaud Robertson, but if he proudly disregards the intellectual monopolies system, why did Linspire sign a horrible software patent deal with Microsoft? Did it fear being sued? Well, it got sued anyway (from the inside).

“Even those who were born yesterday could see Microsoft’s latest attack on GNU/Linux.”This comes to show how foolish deals with Microsoft can be. Novell too was sued just over a year ago by a patent troll which accommodates (former) Microsoft managers [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]. Peace with Microsoft is short-lived, a farce, and therefore totally moot. Microsoft is constantly attacking GNU/Linux, so only those who were born yesterday can expect real peace. Even those who were born yesterday could see Microsoft's latest attack on GNU/Linux.

By the way, Freespire, which is now under the ownership of Xandros, may look nice to some people (screenshot below), but it's Poisonware and therefore it should not be touched. It's just a Debian/Ubuntu ripoff (customised base distribution) anyway. Well, plus the unnecessary liabilities.

Freespire

Recent Techrights' Posts

IBM's CEO Roasted, Sizzled and Grilled for Dumb and Inconsistent Vapourware Promises
It looks like being a chronic liar is what it takes to lead the company once synonymous with computing
Who Imitates Who? Plagiarist as Client (From Microsoft), 'Plagiarism' at the Law Firm?
let's revisit the subject
 
Gemini Links 11/06/2025: Grain and Steam Next Fest
Links for the day
Links 11/06/2025: "Quantum" Hype From IBM, US Closer to Martial Law, and “The Nation” Celebrates Milestone
Links for the day
IBM's Goal Is Not (and Never Was) Computer Users' Freedom
More than 1.5 decades ago I found IBM to be an "ally of convenience" because of OpenDocument Format (ODF)
Wayland Shows the IBM/Red Hat Way of Doing Things
IBM is trying to 'kill' X
GitHub is Proprietary, Controlled by Microsoft, and GPL Violation Warehouse
"IRS tax filing software [will be] released to the people as free software" ... In general this is good news
Slopfarm Catastrophe
Seems like BetaNews (or BetaNoise) has just suffered a major data loss and restored the site from a week-old backup
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part VIII: Illegal Working Conditions
How many people need to die for these people to get their massive salaries?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, June 10, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Links 10/06/2025: Apple Hype and Physical Attacks on Bloggers
Links for the day
Gemini Links 10/06/2025: Loon Lake, Farming, and Forth
Links for the day
Links 10/06/2025: Jaws at 50 and US Democracy Crushed Very Rapidly (Martial Law Seems Imminent)
Links for the day
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part VII: Washing Their Hands After Corruption and Abuse
"Tragedy or comedy?"
Culling Bad RSS Feeds of Bad Sites
Not throwing out the baby with the bathwater
If 'Microsoft v Techrights' is Dealt With by a 'Microsoft Court' (or a Court Outsourced to Microsoft)
More on that later
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 09, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, June 09, 2025
Gemini Protocol Turns Six in 10 Days From Now
If you haven't tried it yet, then give it a go today
Live as You Preach
technology is fast becoming dysphoric
Gemini Links 09/06/2025: Addition Addiction and Nitride
Links for the day
Links 09/06/2025: Science, Hardware Projects, and Democracy Receding
Links for the day
Computers Got Smaller, So GNU/Linux Got Bigger
Many people here recognise the lack of urgency (or need) to get expensive new laptops
BetaNews is a Plagiarism and LLM Slop Hub, the Chief Editor Isn't Addressing This Problem Anymore
SS Fagioli is basically a parasite leeching off or exploiting other people's work
Links 09/06/2025: Chaos in Los Angeles and Hurricane Season
Links for the day
GNU/Linux Grows at Windows' Expense and Microsoft Trolls Infest and Maliciously Target Articles About It
Microsoft is - and has long been - organised crime
They Say I'm Mr. Bombastic
They didn't take good lawyers
Links 09/06/2025: Windows TCO and Many Data Breaches
Links for the day
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part VI: Political Stunts by Former President Edyta Demby-Siwek and the Connection to Profound Corruption at EUIPO
it's like a money-laundering operation where one politician rewards another at taxpayers' expense
Gemini Links 09/06/2025: Pipelines and Splitgate
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 08, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 08, 2025