Bonum Certa Men Certa

With Intellectual Ventures, the USPTO Becomes Basis for Pyramid Scheme, FTC Investigates

Summary: The extortion operation and pyramid scheme known as "Intellectual Ventures" (originally formed by Bill Gates and his close friend) is rapidly growing and the FTC grows increasingly concerned

Bill Gates' pet extortion operation (Intellectual Ventures) -- the entity which likes to shake down Microsoft rivals while pretending to save the world -- is looking for more money to buy more patents. A patent trolls expert writes:



IV touts good returns, but one public source reports returns as poor as -70 percent.


That's not the point though. Intellectual Ventures is a competition-manipulating entity. Even if it makes no direct income (or let elone profit) from patents, it sure helps its financiers, including Bill Gates for example, to make billions of dollars at the expense of competition crushed by patent litigation (filed through proxies). Andy Updegrove says that the FTC is trying to improve its comprehension of patent trolls' business models, but will it investigate Intellectual Ventures? A lot of lobbying from Bill Gates and Intellectual Ventures (for years now) has been used to keep regulators away and there are reports which suggest Intellectual Ventures will keep hiding behind its proxies, publicly pretending not to be a patent troll. It's a massive PR campaign. Anyway, as Updegrove put it:

It’s hardly news that the Obama Administration is no friend of so-called “Patent Assertion Entities,” or PAEs. Not only members of the administration, but the big man himself have spoken publicly against those companies that make a business model out of buying and asserting patents, as compared to those that actually develop new technology, such as universities, which then then seek to license (sometimes referred to as “Non-Practicing Entities,” or NPEs).

Most of what little we know about the business strategies, licensing practices and economics of PAEs has been gleaned from disclosures made in the course of litigation. Now the Federal Trade Commission has decided to gather some first-hand information on exactly how PAEs operate. And, because it is a regulatory agency, it can do so by asking the PAEs themselves to respond, and under oath, to boot.


Trolls are a very major problem, but some are summoned by entities like Intellectual Ventures. This one is said to have literally thousands of proxies. Those proxies are destroying everything that the "mother ship" (Intellectual Ventures, i.e. Bill Gates et al.) wish to destroy, including the Web, which is now transforming into another vehicle of the copyright cartel. The W3C may claim to be against trolls, yet at the same time it harbours some of the proponents and feeders of patent trolls. Its founder claims to be against software patents, yet in his working group he has strong advocates of software patents, as we pointed our on numerous occasions several years ago. There's a total lack of credibility right now.

See articles like "Web Daddy Berners-Lee DRMs HTML5 into 2016" and "Web's gatekeepers embrace DRM for next HTML5 standard". To quote

Digital Rights Management isn’t just coming to HTML5 but also HTML 5.1 in 2016 – despite objections from critics.


And also:

The Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C) formally accepted a big change recently that could affect future Web standards—a decision that will either change nothing or destroy the Web forever.


This really is just an example aside, since the subject has become mainstream in recently days. Bill Gates despised the Internet since its early days. Perhaps now that it's turning into a channel that Microsoft and its buddy Netflix can control, things are going to gradually change. Similarly, Windows is no longer the most sold operating system; Android is. That's where trolls come into play and the stories we find are self-explanatory/evident. In order to stop disruption of the free market (free as in freedom) we need to identify and crush the schemes perpetrated against it.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Slopwatch: Another Day, Another Slopfest, LLM Slop Scrapers Slow Down Our Site
We too have some slop issues; this past day this site and the sister site had to answer about 2.5 million requests (not counting Gemini Protocol) and it's slowing things down for everybody
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part IX: Minimum Wages For You (Experienced Scientist), Alicante/EU Paydays For Me (Unproductive, Corrupt Official)
Does UPRP maladministration extend to the false belief that qualified and experienced scientists can play the role of circus clowns?
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
 
Why the Militants Have Lost Every Battle Since 2022 (When Attacking My Wife and I in Various Ways, Even Attacking Our Employers)
This takes patience, sure, but at the end most evildoers face the consequences for their actions
Our Priority is Still Tackling Software Patents and Corruption in Patent Offices
Meanwhile we got compliments on our recent articles, which means that they are effective
Politics Will Impact Software Choices
Will those systems respect users' freedom?
EPO: Neglecting Children to Promote American Monopolies by Shielding Them From European Competition
Yesterday the Central Staff Committee at the EPO spoke about another "reform" at the Office
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, June 11, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Links 11/06/2025: More Vulnerabilities Found in 'Smart' Phones, China Extends Reach in the Pacific
Links for the day
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
Who Imitates Who? Plagiarist as Client (From Microsoft), 'Plagiarism' at the Law Firm?
let's revisit the subject
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