Bonum Certa Men Certa

Is Steve Jobs' Motto “Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal”?

"We've Always Been Shameless About Stealing Great Ideas" --Steve Jobs

[an error occurred while processing this directive]





Direct link



Summary: More information than Apple wants the public to know about its attitude towards copying and its latest patent lawsuit against Linux/Android

Yesterday we wrote about Apple suing Linux phones using software patents [1, 2]. Apple should be ashamed of itself and its followers ought to rethink their relationship with a brand that has committed the crimes of Hubris. As TechDirt correctly puts it (regarding Apple's lawsuit):

It's usually a sign that a company is worried that it can't keep up with the competition.


Gizmodo has this new post which brings back a good video from the past. It's the video we put at the top (and made an Ogg version of).

Oh, hello! A trip to the YouTube wayback machine shows that 1996's Steve "Great Artists Steal" Jobs might have taken issue with Steve Jobs 2010, and his patent lawsuit firebombing of HTC. Irony!

The comment was made during a 1996 PBS documentary called "Triumph of the Nerds," and looks a smidge hypocritical in light of today's events. As does this one:


Let's remember that Apple also invests in Microsoft's patent troll, Nathan Myhrvold, who argues that "intellectual property is the next software."

Here is an Open Letter to Steve Jobs:

But when you sue someone for doing something you do yourself, you become one of the bad guys. Can you name a company you admire that spends its time enforcing patents, instead of innovating? Remember the pirate flag you flew over Apple's headquarters when you were building the Mac? Is Apple part of the Navy now?


Apple is just upsetting it own fans, as we showed yesterday with an example. How about this new article?

Steve Jobs and Rupert Murdoch: Let’s Sue the Internet



So Apple is suing HTC, the premier manufacturer of Android-based phones, including Google’s Nexus One. And Rupert Murdoch is suing Google—or so he says.

[...]

It’s a Steve thing. Not just a temper tantrum. But an operatic one. It’s Steve Jobs’ signature: pride and paranoia. Behind it, too, is the motivation of all great competitors—they really don’t want to compete, they want the market for themselves. Now it’s Google, rather than Microsoft, copying him. It’s Google’s phone he’s out to get. He’s pissed off: Google controls the Internet and all he controls is his rotten phone.


One of the culprits here is also the patent system, which is worth reforming or abolishing. It does nothing good for society, say patent holders themselves (whose employers asked them to apply for patents).

Recent Techrights' Posts

Nearly 1,000 People at EPO 'Met' to Plan Further Strikes and Impending Action to Dethrone Corrupt Leadership
Exploring the purchasing "power" of EPO leadership (buying elections while doing cocaine in public)
SLAPP Censorship - Part 196 Out of 200: Sending Someone to Our Doorstep to Ship Approximately 5 KG of Legal Papers (Instead of to Our Representatives)
it is not about law, this is lawfare
Same Name/Brand, Not the Same Project/Product
What is Linux becoming?
Germany, Like Switzerland, Will Dump Microsoft's Proprietary Software and Disservices, Then Dump Windows for GNU/Linux
This impacts not only the Windows revenue; this corrodes any "rents" Microsoft was getting from "subscriptions"
There Are Likely Over a Thousand Internet Relay Chat (IRC) Networks Online, Net Gain of 16 Seen This Month by Andreas Gelhausen's netsplit.de
It's good that they're still tracking that sort of stuff
 
IBM Grapevine: Development Outsourced to LLM Slop and It Results in Many Bugs
IBM is circling down the drain and every insider knows it
Microsoft Gives Many People the 'Booty' This Week, Not Counting PIPs (Silent Layoffs and 'Voluntary' Layoffs)
Microsoft PIPs allegedly target "20-25% in some teams."
Links 23/09/2026: Pax Silica Hub Ruins a Country for a Pyramid Scheme (Slop), Convicted Felon's Press Block Resembles Iran, Russia, China
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/09/2026: Stuck, Gambling, Fury Road, IPFS, and More
Links for the day
The Register Got Paid Today to Spew Out "AI" Almost 50 Times (Keeping the Pyramid Scheme Buzzing in Headlines)
paid-for spam
IBM's Anderon Already Smells Like a Fraud and IBM Insiders Heckle the Lies From the Management
Sabine Hossenfelder recently made some videos which explain in simple terms why IBM is lying and has already lied about this for years
Links 23/09/2026: Mass-Surveillance by Clownflare and "Data Centre" Crunch Commences
Links for the day
3 Years Divorced From Americans
Next year we plan to pursue the UK's Court of Appeal
The Register MS Uses Slop About Slop (in Images)
Months ago we caught The Register MS using slop for text as well
SLAPP Censorship - Part 195 Out of 200: Two Years Since Garrett, Graveley and Lozza Worked in Parallel to Censor Techrights
It began in September 2024, shortly after we had sued Garrett
Linux Kernel Becoming a Slopfest - Part 8 - In Conclusion
this can invite more SCO-like problems in the future
Microsoft Shuts Down More Studios, Morale Low, More Mass Layoffs Ahead of Reports
They pretend it's not happening or that it's a lot smaller than it actually is
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, September 22, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, September 22, 2026
Gemini Links 23/09/2026: Ljubljana, Poetry, and FORTRAN
Links for the day
The EPO's Central Staff Committee (CSC) Shows Job Insecurity at Europe's Second-Largest Institution
Who would want to join a company with such low job security?
There Are Thousands More Microsoft Layoffs (Including Silent Layoffs), Not Hundreds
Microsoft does have layoffs and today is no exception (except Microsoft talks about it)
Gemini Links 22/09/2026: Disability Studies, Slop Boosters, and TkInter
Links for the day
Links 22/09/2026: Flock is Collapsing Amid Mass Backlash and Internet Society Collaborates With the 'Epstein Class' (Trafficking of Women)
Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 194 Out of 200: The Court Needs to Also Look Into Microsoft-Controlled Restricted Boot Advanced by An American (Garrett) to Promote Monopoly and Back Doors Everywhere
Kill switch sold as 'security' is like euthanasia sold as a cure
Linux Kernel Becoming a Slopfest - Part 7 - Infested With or Plagued by Bot-Generated Slop, Committed by Microsofters
Slop is a security threat; even the person committing slop to Linux might not be aware that there's a back/bug door in the code
Raspberry Pi Has Microsoft Secrets Inside, Now DRM
now we deal with SBCs that have DRM in them, put there for commercial reasons
Edward Snowden Lost His Voice, Then His Leaks Lost Exposure (Access Denied)
When states want to deny people access to some information they have many tools at hand
2 Hours Ago The Register MS Published a Page That Says "AI" 42 Times Because It Was Paid to Do So
Still inflating the bubble for money
Gemini Links 22/09/2026: Scout Night, Cybernetic Capitalism, and Thoughts on Companies Forcing People to Adopt Plagiarism Engines
Links for the day
Links 22/09/2026: "An Arsenal of Surveillance" and Slop Bots Suggest Starting Wars
Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 193 Out of 200: Breaks GNU and Linux, Tries to Silence Critics, Loses All Money, Looks for Microsoft Allies and Sponsors
The latest emotional knee-jerk reactions serve to confirm what we have long said
Things Will Only Get Better (as We Go Backwards)
It only gets better. If you go back in time.
UK High Court Shows SRA is Totally Useless in Curbing SLAPPs, This Has Impact on Our Reporting on the SRA Next Week
We'll carry on our coverage and soon finish the current series that so we can get on with more time-sensitive ones
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 21, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, September 21, 2026
Links 21/09/2026: "Lies of the Hey Hi (AI) Industry" and Solar Power Is Getting Cheap
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/09/2026: Equinox and Beginner's Guide to Gemini
Links for the day
Links 21/09/2026: "Back On My Bicycle" and American Regime's War on Media Escalates Further
Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 192 Out of 200: The Hired Guns of Garrett and Graveley Sent Us USB Sticks (One to Me, One to My Wife) Showing Lozza Talking to Garrett About Censoring/Deplatforming Techrights the Same Time Graveley Was Copy-Pasting Garrett's Lawsuit
Next year we plan to bring this matter to the Court of Appeal
Linux Kernel Becoming a Slopfest - Part 6 - Seeing Who Contaminates Linux With Slop (And Also Admits It)
Today we begin looking at some culprits
2026: The Year Galleries Realised the Need to Flag or Cull Slop Images
Society needs to shun slopfarms, people who use LLM slop (for anything at all), companies that use bots (which they dub "agents"), and so-called 'coders' who volley garbage into project and software hubs
Software Freedom Day Celebrated in 5 or 6 Continent
Software Freedom Day (SFD) 2026 was big this year
SLAPP Censorship - Part 191 Out of 200: Garrett, Graveley and Lozza
They talk to and coordinate with one another
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, September 20, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, September 20, 2026
Gemini Links 21/09/2026: Digital Hoarder, GTD, Minimalism vs Digital Minimalism, Rejection of LLMs
Links for the day