Bonum Certa Men Certa

In Motorola Case, Microsoft Boosters Use Slashdot for Anti-Linux/Android Patent Propaganda

Megaphone



Summary: Covering what's right/correct -- not what's wrong/incorrect -- about the Microsoft case against Motorola/Android

THE patent assault launched by Microsoft against Android is a really big deal. One of the fastest-growing platforms (ever!) is coming under constant extortion from an ageing monopolist. Need we stand aside helplessly while this is happening?



Apple's continued patent hoard aside for a moment (Apple does malicious things too), Microsoft the acquirer/developer-turned-troll is hoardingpatents on tablets and software. Microsoft is trying to take Android apps (with a patent) while attacking Android, taxing it, and removing features from the platform (see this disturbing article. We'll keep this post concise by citing, not quoting or rewriting).

"Both Apple and Microsoft like to pretend to be the victims, even when it's Apple which is the litigator and Microsoft is the aggressor (or interchangeably so)."Microsoft seeks a restraining order in the patent case against Motorola, which will soon be part of Google (at least the relevant division). The response to Microsoft's aggression can be seen as Google fighting against Microsoft's extortion against Android as a whole (granted, resistance to aggression is not aggression). Some recent articles say that it's only a matter of time before all green lights are shown for Google to indeed occupy Motorola's seat in this court case and in the process there might be offloading. As Microsoft essentially bribed B&N to stop fighting for justice this case is very important and Microsoft goes to great lengths to dodge a loss, pretending it (Microsoft) is the victim in all this storm that it, itself, started. Both Apple and Microsoft like to pretend to be the victims, even when it's Apple which is the litigator and Microsoft is the aggressor (or interchangeably so).

Sometimes Microsoft gets its way by removing deterrence like an embargo (after action in Germany, such as this or even this), but amid this legal fight we also find disinformation. Here is one failed embargo attempt, hardly at all reported while in the US we find that: "In a Seattle court hearing Monday, attorneys for both companies disclosed talks occurred shortly after Microsoft filed a lawsuit in October 2010 alleging that Motorola was unfairly charging the software company to use its video-streaming and WiFi technology. The talks may have continued as recently as February, according to statements in court and filings."

Notice what Microsoft is doing here. While trying to extort Motorola it ensures it has some sob story, pretending to be on the defensive side (the Microsoft PR machine amplifies this to gain sympathy). As a matter of strategy, Microsoft also moves software distribution to the Netherlands, dodging a platform which is more likely to serve justice for Android:

What makes Germany hub of tech patent battles



Is Germany's system of litigating disputes over patents bad for business? Microsoft's decision to move its European logistics and distribution headquarters to the Netherlands from Germany has generated a debate over patent law here, where it is easy to block the sale of a rival's product even before an infringement claim is verified.


Recently, an ITC ruling against Motorola was made publicly known and as Microsoft loves to use lobbyists such as Microsoft Florian we were showered with flagrant misdirections. The boosters are using Slashdot for their deception and one Microsoft booster wrote a deceiving article, ensuring it gets promoted in Slashdot (after being submitted by the booster himself), under a similarly misleading headline and description. Passive Slashdot followers further amplified it in other sites, perhaps not realising that they got bamboozled somewhat.

As one reader told us, "Groklaw didn't seem to pick up this one. Slashdot tries to spin it as pro-M$ but the following comment has some good points: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2860233&cid=40048505."

Microsoft boosters keep seeding the press with Android-hostile coverage and even in the Apple vs. HTC case we see spinners making an appearance (without disclosure):

Apple v. Google Case May End Patent Gold Rush



Since the Supreme Court refused to narrow patents on software and business methods two years ago, there has been a patent market boom.


Watch Microsoft lobbyists interjecting themselves into articles. From CNET:

At least, that's according to the U.S. District Court of Delaware, which ordered the two companies to discuss a potential settlement. The talks would be moderated by Judge Sherry Fallon, Foss Patents reported today.


This is why Microsoft will continue to use lobbyists. It gets to distort press coverage, so trial by press is subjected to deception by people like Microsoft Florian as a source, briefed by paying clients like Microsoft and given instructions, then proceeding to 'spamming' journalists (spam by proxy). Well, another longtime Microsoft booster is relaying Microsoft propaganda for phones as though CNET is just becoming a Microsoft platform for whatever agent to pin ads/press releases onto. Bloomberg covered this better.

The bottom line is, the Motorola-Microsoft case is an important one for the freedom of Android and Microsoft keeps using lobbyists and boosters to misinform the public about it, having recently paid B&N to also stop exposing Microsoft abuses. This is a serious problem which should worry everyone. For development, I consider buying ANDROID+TABLET.htm">this tablet later in the week because it seems like Motorola is the main company with enough of a nerve/guts to stand up to Microsoft and keep Android free. Being careless about what Microsoft is doing is the path to disaster.

‘The only thing necessary for the triumph [of evil] is for good men to do nothing.’

--Edmund Burke



Recent Techrights' Posts

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
Linux Foundation is a Mediator for Microsoft et al, Not for Small Companies That Support Rather Than Attack the GPL
Many people still wrongly assume that because it is called "Linux Foundation", then it is pro-Linux and represents the same mindset
 
Links 09/06/2025: Chaos in Los Angeles and Hurricane Season
Links for the day
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
Links 08/06/2025: Tiananmen Carnage Censorship Persists, North Korean Goes Offline
Links for the day
Gemini Links 08/06/2025: Love as an Ethnographic Method and Monitorix Gemini-Frontend v0.1
Links for the day
Links 08/06/2025: Exposure of More GAFAM Surveillance and Social Security Records Compromised
Links for the day
This Past Friday, Confirming What We Said All Along About Brett Wilson LLP: It's Shrinking, Has Considerable Debt, Loss of Net Assets Despite the Microsoft SLAPP Money
The documents only became publicly available less than 2 days ago
Some of the Many Reasons We Sued Microsofters for Harassment
perpetrators of harassment
For 20 Years Many People Were Sharecropping for Canonical's Oligarch, Now He's Deleting All Their Contributions
"Ubuntu has erased instead of archiving the trove of material at Ubuntu Forums"
There Was Always Too Much 'Crazy Stuff' Going on Around Freenode
What many IRC users lost sight of
Exposing Crime is Not a Crime (It Never Was)
In the eyes of rich and powerful people, those who speak about their crimes are the "criminals"
GNU/Linux Distros Abandoning Microsoft GitHub
Will curl be next to leave Microsoft GitHub?
Expect More XBox Mass Layoffs Soon If the Rumours Are True
From a Microsoft media operative
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, June 07, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, June 07, 2025
Europe Needs to Move Away From GAFAM; The Sooner, the Better
Europe - not just the EU - must abandon GAFAM as soon as possible
The Issue Isn't GNOME's Promotion of Diversity But GNOME Corruption, Abuse, Censorship, and Worse
So-called "Conservative" (republican, pro-Trump, bigoted) people want you to think the problem with GNOME is politics
When the News Sources Become Scarce and Increasingly Full of Polluted/Contaminated 'Content' (With LLM Slop and Slop Images)
Integrity matters
"Linux" Sites That Spew Out LLM Slop
We're lacking enough material for another "Slopwatch"
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part V: Breaking the Law, Just Like EPO
We'll hopefully cover some of the pertinent details later this year
Links 08/06/2025: Security Lapses, CISA Cuts, and More
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/06/2025: Mime Types and Geminisphere Introduction
Links for the day
Links 07/06/2025: Slop Companies Retain All Private Data, More Books Banned in the US
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/06/2025: "A Monk's Guide to Happiness" and "Wireless Earbuds"
Links for the day
Links 07/06/2025: More Rumours of Mass Layoffs in Microsoft's XBox Division, New COVID Variant
Links for the day
Drug Addiction is a Real Problem, It Destroys Families
a rather sensitive matter
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part IV: Political Scrutiny and Errors/Inconsistencies in Official Documents
When such organisations receive scrutiny they start focusing on cover-up and muzzling of facts (or crushing people who say the truth)
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, June 06, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, June 06, 2025