IBM has begun marketing its GNU/Linux solutions (running proprietary Lotus) as "Microsoft-free", but not as "Free" because they are not. They try to 'outMicrosoft' Microsoft the Microsoft way.
The idea is to create a defensive patent shield or no-fly zone around Linux,” says Keith Bergelt, the chief executive officer of Open Invention Network, the consortium launching the site. The core members of that group, formed in 2005, are IBM, NEC, Novell (NOVL), Philips, Red Hat (RHT) and Sony.
[...]
Although some factions of the free- and open-source community are ideologically opposed to the whole notion of software patents — most notably and passionately Richard Stallman, the founder of the Free Software Foundation (which is a client of Linux-Defenders co-sponsor Software Freedom Law Center, which, in turn, supports the End Software Patents organization) — neither Bergelt nor OIN fall into that camp.
“We’re not anti-patent by any stretch of the imagination,” says Bergelt. “More patents is fine with me, as long as they’re high quality. Quality is the drum we beat.
It won’t work against patent trolls. Competitors of the Linux-based OSes can put some patents in a troll company, and this kind of patent pooling won’t work, because you cannot countersue.
And what Mr Bergelt is dangerous, since a patent troll with a high quality software patent is much more complicated to invalidate:
“More patents is fine with me, as long as they’re high quality.”
Software cannot be protected by patents, as you always need someone’s else patent to sell or distribute your product. As a software producer, you are always subject to blackmail.
[T]he community has to help set a tone of 'openness' when working with companies and governments, and encourage these to adopt the same approach. In addition, the community must push for a stable legal system for software - and this includes standing firm against the idea of software patents.
[PDF]:
The main threat to FLOSS currently in the area of legislation is software patentability. Software patents make innovation more rigid, reinforce dominant positions, and work against the four freedoms. In the United States, where the principle of software patentability was validated in 1998 by the software law, software patents have generated many costly procedures and trials, and the system actually turns out to be prejudicial to the software industry.
A deal on a so-called community patent has long eluded the 27 European Union governments, due to spats over which languages to use and what sort of legal framework was needed.
As we all now know, the hoped for breakthrough under the French presidency did not happen. The reasons for this are basically those that I have already explained in previous blogs: problems over language and money for the national patent offices. However, Battistelli declared that, although there were still major difficulties to resolve in these two areas, as well as a number of specific technical problems to overcome with regard to the court, the glass was now 80% to 90% full. “I am optimistic that the forthcoming [Czech and Swedish] presidencies can build on this and that there will be good news in 2009,” he said.
[PDF].
Why do you allow the European Patent Office to control the patent inflation and innovation of the EU, being a foreign institution to the EU?
Rambus Inc. (RMBS: News ), which develops and licenses chip interface technologies and architectures used in digital electronics products, said Thursday that the U.S. International Trade Commission has agreed to its request and instituted a probe regarding alleged infringement of nine of the company's patents by graphics chip maker NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA) and others whose products incorporate the disputed NVIDIA products.
Microsoft received 1,649 U.S. patents in 2007, the most by far of any software company, according to the Patents Scorecard produced by IEEE Spectrum and released this week.
--Nathan Myhrvold, Microsoft patent troll
Comments
G. Michaels
2008-12-09 01:36:45
I'm not saying they haven't, but since you included them in the "Patent abusers" section, I figure you have something more meaningful than just your claims of "hoarding", which AFAIK is mostly for defensive purposes.
And offtopic (plus to merit my scarlet letter), here's a comment posted in reply to your nymshifter friend over on Slashdot. I thought it would be nice to share - I doubt he's going to paste it into your IRC conversation tonight. Food for thought? Personally I think it's a waste of time but maybe you can convince him to stay on the right track this time and stop disrupting other communities like you claim yours is... although with all these accounts maybe the temptation is too great. Who knows.
Note: writer of this comment adds absolutely nothing but stalking and personal attacks against readers, as documented here.
andre
2008-12-09 14:34:06
Roy Schestowitz
2008-12-09 14:38:18
Gentoo User
2008-12-09 18:10:20
He did, but he called it an "M$ threat". A threat.
Oh, I forget. I'm not supposed to talk about Schestowitz friends, no matter how disruptive they are to other communities. He on the other hand, does not tolerate that and appends red text to my comments because I'm not posting from a Gentoo box. Right.
Note: comment arrived from a witch hunter that does not even use GNU/Linux.
andre
2008-12-10 00:27:45
G. Michaels
2008-12-10 01:50:49
- Terminally retarded - Lying - Employed by Microsoft (or "M$") - Not employed by Microsoft, but terminally retarded - Lying and retarded. - Employed by Microsoft, and lying. - Stalking people. - A Slashdot user.
Don't worry, this is just the way people here advocate free software. If you do ever decide to try Linux, make sure you use other venues, like the Ubuntu mailing lists, which are much friendlier than sites who claim to advocate but spend 99% of their time and bandwidth bashing.
Note: writer of this comment adds absolutely nothing but stalking and personal attacks against readers, as documented here.
G. Michaels
2008-12-10 01:51:23
Note: writer of this comment adds absolutely nothing but stalking and personal attacks against readers, as documented here.
G. Michaels
2008-12-10 01:53:25
And he was probably warned about it so he could post it in IRC.
Wrap your brain around the mental processes of someone who calls that a threat. Go ahead, I dare you.
Note: writer of this comment adds absolutely nothing but stalking and personal attacks against readers, as documented here.
stevetheFLY
2008-12-10 08:38:46
Note: comment has been flagged for arriving from an incarnation of a known (eet), pseudonymous, forever-nymshifting, abusive Internet troll that posts from open proxies and relays around the world.