10.07.10
More Software Patents Stockpiling at Facebook
From hobby to monopolist
Summary: Zuckerberg is building a massive portfolio of software patents not just by applying for monopolies but also by buying some from other companies
The company created under controversial circumstances by Mark “dumb fucks” Zuckerberg has been getting eerily close to Microsoft over the past few years and not so long ago it actually bought a lot of patents, just like a true patent troll (Zuckerberg is reported to have had at least one private meal with the world's largest patent troll, who came from Microsoft).
“Patent Gives Facebook Broad Power Over Mobile Location Networking,” alerts BNET:
Early into a technology it is often possible to nail down broad patents that will make competitors weep. Facebook may have done just that with location-based social networking. A patent issued yesterday has broad claims that would seem to cover much of what Google (GOOG) Latitude, Foursquare, Gowalla, and others try to do in letting users share their locations with others.
This is already being discussed in Slashdot, which summarises the article thusly:
“Facebook just received a patent with broad claims that would seem to cover much of what Google (GOOG) Latitude, Foursquare, Gowalla, and others try to do in letting users share their locations with others. Patent number 7,809,805, called ‘Systems and methods for automatically locating web-based social network members,’ covers people manually entering a status, sending that and their location from a wireless device, and sharing both the status and location with others. Facebook’s corporate value just took a big jump — and a number of other companies might have to either challenge the patent’s validity or consider licensing deals.”
Facebook is a proponent of software patents and it gives many other reasons to be shunned. Facebook promotes OOXML, it is partly owned by Microsoft, and Microsoft has already attempted to acquire Facebook, which currently promotes Bong [sic] and Silver Lie [sic] (return on investment). █
