Bonum Certa Men Certa

Florian Müller Unearths Dan Lyons' Old Junk

Daniel Lyons
Original photo by Mark Coggins



Summary: A successor/heir is found for old unverified 'dirt' about Groklaw, IBM continues to annoy members of the public with ludicrous patent applications, and Microsoft joins an amicus curiae in the Therasense patent case

WE SELDOM write about Dan Lyons, the clown who called himself "fake Steve Jobs" in order to piggyback some famous person's name. Dan Lyons is probably known within GNU/Linux circles for his vicious attacks on GNU/Linux, on Richard Stallman/FSF, and on Groklaw. Some years ago he was spreading rumours though some weirdly-named blog (not "fake Steve Jobs") and Florian Müller is currently bolstering his anti-IBM agenda using old speculations from Dan Lyons, who alleged without evidence that IBM was paying Groklaw (IBM denied this under oath). For what it's worth, earlier today Müller published a GNU/Linux-hostile blog post about the Munich migration, which is succeeding [1, 2]. This is nothing new from Müller, who previously helped stall the migration to GNU/Linux in Munich (Müller has told us that he uses Vista 7 on his desktop/laptop and never GNU/Linux). The funny thing is that Novell staff is helping him right now over at Twitter. One of Novell's Mono folks even misleads him by mischaracterising statistics. We use Varnish as a separate and static front end, so the actual Web server only gets used as a 'fallback' when the page requested is not cached or the user is logged on (so generic pages do not apply).



Anyway, over a Groklaw we now have a summary of SCO vs. Novell trial transcripts. This trial ought to leave IBM in the clear, even though Microsoft has new proxies attacking IBM.

It ought to be added that we do not defend IBM all the time. We are strong critics of IBM's patent policy for example. Today we find another new example of IBM's outrageous patents:

IBM Trying To Patent Cure For Obama's BlackBerry Woes



theodp writes "Appearing Thursday on The View, President Obama lamented that his BlackBerry was no fun anymore, noting that only about 10 people had his BlackBerry personal e-mail address. 'I've got to admit it's no fun because they think it's going to be subject to the Presidential Records Act so nobody sends me the juicy stuff,' he ruefully added. Coincidentally, the USPTO disclosed on Thursday that IBM has a patent pending for a Cellular Telephone Using Multiple Accounts, which provides multiple SIM card slots to address the problems faced by 'an elected official [who] may be under legal restraints regarding the nature of calls which may be made from a particular telephone.' Without its invention, explains Big Blue, 'an official may use one telephone for calls in an official government capacity; another for calls to a re-election committee; and another for purely personal use.' IBM ran to the patent office with details of the new 'invention' (image) just days after Obama was told he could keep his BlackBerry for personal use, but would have to use an NSA-approved phone for anything government related."


Crosbie Fitch says: "Until you extract the root and abolish #patent, the weed of #swpat will keep coming back. #Patents are NOT 'a good idea badly executed'."

That's why OIN is not the solution, abolition is. The open letter calling for abolishment of software patents in Australia has almost got 800 signatures so far, so thanks to all the Australians who signed it. The target was 500 and it has been exceeded by far. The more, the merrier. Thanks to Ben Sturmfels for that.

Here is what Microsoft is up to this week when it comes to patents:

Last Friday, sanofi-aventis and Microsoft joined in filing an amicus curiae brief with the Federal Circuit in the Therasense, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson & Co. case. The brief, filed in support of appellants and urging the en banc Court to reverse the three-judge panel's affirmance of inequitable conduct against Abbott, was limited to one of the "questions" posed to the parties and amici by the Federal Circuit when granting en banc review: "[w]hether the specific intent element of the inequitable conduct doctrine is properly derived from the common law" (see "Federal Circuit Grants En Banc Review in Therasense v. Becton Dickinson").

[...]

Intent generally is not required for patent infringement, a strict liability tort. It is only in "extraordinary situations," amici argue, that intent becomes an issue: for infringers when the allegation is for inducing infringement, and for patentees when the allegation is inequitable conduct. The brief argues that specific intent, defined as "[t]he intent to accomplish the precise act with which one has been charged" (reflecting the origins of the concept in criminal law) is the standard that a court should apply when establishing inequitable conduct.


As Carlo Piana put it, "the *only* solution is [software patents] abolition NOW."

Recent Techrights' Posts

Attacks on Techrights Are Only Making Techrights Bigger and Even More Popular
A week ago they offered to settle with us
 
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 15, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Links 16/10/2025: Increased Use of Social Control Media Surveillance in US, French Rage Over Pensions
Links for the day
Links 15/10/2025: Qantas Airways Loses Control of Sensitive Data and Software Patents Are Being Thrown Out
Links for the day
Vista 10 is 'Dead', Here's Why People Should Move to GNU/Linux (or the BSDs)
Today we try to make an outline of reasons move away from Windows to GNU/Linux
Our Sites Continue to Improve
LLM slop has had no noticeable impact on us
Gemini Links 15/10/2025: Neovim, Helix Compared and Gemlog.blue Now Closed
Links for the day
Links 15/10/2025: Mass Layoffs at Amazon, OneDrive Spyware Revved Up, More 'Gen Z Protests'
Links for the day
The EPO's Staff Engagement Survey 2025 is Already Tainted by Intimidation by EPO Management (Trying to Influence Outcomes by Scaring Genuine, Honest Critics)
"[W]e have received reports that, following the previous survey, teams with negative responses were reproached or questioned about their answers..."
The DDoS Attacks by Microsoft's Scam Altman and Other Slop Charlatans and Frauds is Hurting the FSF, Delinking It From Copyleft Projects
This impacts a lot more than access to the licences
Microsoft Scanning Faces in Photos People Upload to Microsoft (Even Unconsciously), Slashdot Turns Report About It Into "Microsoft Sez" (Says)
Or "let's repeat the lies from a PR person/Microsoft's publicist"
[Teaser] Angel Aledo Lopez the Manipulator (Nepotism, Poll Rigging, and Other EPO Corruption)
We'll discuss this later today or tomorrow, based on internal EPO material
Epic Metaphor for End of IBM: "The IBM Demolition is Down to the Last Shards!"
Nothing lasts forever
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, October 14, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, October 14, 2025
Proprietary and DRM Prisons Spiralling Down the Sinkhole? Not Just Yet.
Let's hope that more people will flee to GNU/Linux
The European Patent Office (EPO), the Second-Largest Institution in Europe, is Cracking Down on Recreational Activities
Without AMICALE activities, and as staff already says it's pressured to work more for less, how can the EPO recruit bright people?
Transparency: FSFE financial reports exclude speaker fees and expenses
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Many Developers Have Many Political Views, They'll Never Agree on Everything
It's an effort to divide and destroy, not build
Gemini Links 14/10/2025: An Opportunity to Consider GNU/Linux and Another Simple IRC Client
Links for the day
Slopwatch: UbuntuPIT, LinuxSecurity, Google News, and the Serial Slopper Brian Fagioli
Nothing of merit here, just more slop
Links 14/10/2025: Lack of Trust in Slop and "Retirement Challenges"
Links for the day
EPO Staff Can Go Listen to Richard Stallman Next Week in Munich (Technical University of Munich, Rudolf-Diesel Hörsaal (MW2001) on Campus Garching at 18:00)
"The talk is open to the public and attendance is free. Registration is not required."
Rhonda D'Vine, Gerfried Fuchs, Pronouns & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
At IBM, Relocation Means Layoffs (Downsizing)
Silent or 'invisible' layoffs?
Central Staff Committee of the European Patent Office (EPO) Warns That EPO Management is Robbing or Manipulating Pension Funds Again
Faking "growth" is just about as bad as forgery
Probably a Lot Worse Than LLM Slop: GNOME Tying Itself to Divisive Politics, Even Where It's Clearly Not Relevant
Something has gone terribly wrong in GNOME
Links 14/10/2025: Microsoft OneDrive Scanning Faces in Photos (Without Asking First), "OpenAI Says It Will Move to Allow Smut"
Links for the day
They Generally Don't Like Scholars, as They're Less Compelled or Pressured to Repeat What Corporations and Oligarchs Say
People who loathe scholars have an agenda in mind that, unlike that of reasonable people, revolves around controlling people
Dystopian Trends in Technology Make Richard Stallman More Relevant Than Ever
It's good to see him attracting vast audiences
Belated New Article About Last Thursday's Lecture by Richard Stallman in Helsinki, Finland
there are good reasons to pay with cash, not limited to privacy
Attacking Richard Stallman Has Become 'Career Suicide'
If you're going to viciously attack somebody, make sure your arguments are rock-solid
Microsoft's Failing XBox Business Has Turned Games Into Funerals
How does it feel to depend on Microsoft?
Yesterday's "Distinguished Lecture" by Richard Stallman Possibly Attended by Close to 1,000 People
The capacity of the place is about 900
Slop Poisons Everything
Imagine wanting to find what Torvalds has just said or what has just been released
Taking Software Freedom 'Mainstream'
interest in Software Freedom must have grown
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, October 13, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, October 13, 2025
Gemini Links 14/10/2025: Ada Lovelace Day, Sony CLIE PEG-TG50 Review, Why to Avoid Network Solutions
Links for the day
Richard Stallman (RMS) Announced His Talk Less Than 24 Hours Before It Took Place and Still Filled Up the Auditorium at Sapienza Università di Roma
Photos from yesterday evening [...] It looks like it was a very successful event