03.24.10
Kyocera and Sanyo (Not Just Samsung and LG) Help Microsoft ‘Tax’ Android
Summary: Kyocera introduces phones with Android, yet a lot of people do not remember the company’s deal with Microsoft and its effects
ONE of Microsoft’s lesser-known Linux deals (a patent racket) is with Kyocera [1, 2, 3] (category page here). This deal involves Kyocera paying Microsoft for Linux, which it uses in few of its products. According to this short new report, the racket will extend to Android phones (and be related to Sanyo too, being the exFAT collaborator and Kyocera adjunct).
Following the saying “The more the merrier,” I am pleased to announce that Kyocera revealed the launch of a new Kyocera (and Sanyo) branded Android device at CTIA 2010 today. The Kyocera Zio M6000 will be released in Q2.
So here we have a phone that will also have Sanyo involved in Microsoft’s racket. It’s all rather similar with Samsung, which has this new Android phone. It’s bad for Android [1, 2] because Microsoft is taxing Android here, behind Google’s back (it turns Android to Ballnux). Similarly, Samsung’s competitor in Korea, LG, makes new Android phones. These too will be taxed by Microsoft as LG will pass money to Microsoft for each one sold, based on the nature of the patent deals that are racketeering [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. Considering Apple’s Android lawsuit [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] which is supported by Microsoft [1, 2, 3], this is just part of the problem. Microsoft and Apple would love to treat Linux as though it is theirs. █
“Microsoft is asking people to pay them for patents, but they won’t say which ones. If a guy walks into a shop and says: “It’s an unsafe neighbourhood, why don’t you pay me 20 bucks and I’ll make sure you’re okay,” that’s illegal. It’s racketeering.”
–Mark Shuttleworth
