Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Co-founder -- Like Microsoft and Intellectual Ventures -- Helps Add Patent Tax to Linux

Hand on keyboard



Summary: Our extensive coverage (primarily with links) about the refiled Traul Allen [sic] lawsuit, which this time mentions the Linux-powered Android as a target

THE PREVIOUS two posts covered patent troll Intellectual Ventures [1, 2]. In the latter part we showed allegation that Microsoft's former CTO had begun extorting Linux using software patents and we deliberately separate this from Traul Allen's similar action. Allen is Microsoft's co-founder and the 'Microsoft press' makes it clear that Facebook, which is a patent abuser-aggressor, is among those hit. We last mentioned Facebook in relation to the Goldman Sachs 'bubble machine' and Groklaw's response to it was: "Surprise. The SEC announces an investigation of the Goldman Sachs workaround ("We're only one shareholder, really, just privately sharing with our best friends a little bit") and presto, chango, Facebook suddenly is talking going public."



“Haven't we seen this type of scam before? Harming society for the sake of some stocks and patents while claiming to do 'charity'?”Anyway, Facebook's inclusion in Allen's list is a subject we touched on before and it is better to concentrates on Allen's impact on Free software. The Seattle press is pretty useless for unbiased information because he is worshipped there just like the Gates Foundation. Money tilts coverage. Here is an example of Allen buying the hearts of Washington State (example from end of November) with another report here and a new (to us) disclosure that he wants "to run his own private investment office."

Haven't we seen this type of scam before? Harming society for the sake of some stocks and patents while claiming to do 'charity'? We saw that coming.

As usual, the Seattle Weekly stands out of from crowd by taking a bolder step and generalising a little. The title is "Paul Allen Still Determined to Sue the Internet" and it is critical:

Microsoft co-founder and 400-foot yacht-owner Paul Allen is determined to sue the pants off the internet. Well, maybe not the entire internet, per se, but rather a bevy of the biggest companies around that use it.

Allen's lawsuit was originally filed in August, after his platoon of lawyers poured over his patents and came up with a way to argue that he practically invented the internet in his Interval Licensing lab in Palo Alto that's been closed now for 10 years.


Groklaw generalises by saying that Allen sues the whole world and Robert Pogson has his own take too:

There should be a law against trolling like this. I remember using software that does this kind of stuff in the 1970s before the web was around. Even a table of contents or an index could be said to infringe. This is so vague it should also be chucked. Perhaps they will tweak the court’s interest with a third amended complaint or add a few hundred other software patent claims.


Here are responses from LWN. It's pretty much as expected and Microsoft Florian posts more anti-Android rhetoric in Twitter (he claims to be using Android but links to inflammatory/Google-hostile news of this type). Jan Wildeboer, who used to know Florian personally, interprets this as follows:

So now [Florian] claims Android could be killed by MSFT/Allen patents. Why am I not surprised? I guess Google should pay FRAND to MSFT?


Jan Wildeboer points to this old page about Microsoft Florian and stresses: "This is what [Florian] had to say on FRAND some years ago" (by the way, Wildeboer posts primarily in Identi.ca and like many of us he also passes output to Twitter where more people reside, including Microsoft Florian).

Basically, the Microsoft boosters keep painting this mostly as problem to Android, perhaps because they want to scare phone makers*. What Allen is doing makes sense on the one hand, but it is also odd because on the other hand "Kiha Raises $20 Million From Paul Allen To Build A Mobile Assistant" and it targets Android:

Seattle-based Kiha Software, which has raised $20 million from Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) co-founder Paul Allen, launched Aro Mobile, a product in beta for Android devices that it supposed to make your phone smarter, and link together email, SMS, calendar and contacts to make your phone into a virtual assistant.


Microsoft has been very aggressive against Android recently it is now being daemonised further, says a Forbes blogger. There is an attempt to put Bong [sic] on Linux-based Android phones across all U.S. operators [1, 2, 3,, 4], which works well as a Trojan horse. Microsoft cannot stop Android anymore, so it is trying to make Android subservient and profitable for Microsoft.

Google is now under fire and Google's Android (or Linux) too, by association. One article headline says that Google Fights Back in Patent Suit vs. Microsoft Co-Founder:

Google said Interval failed to identify how Google has infringed on his patents, the underlying technology at issue, and the products or services offered by Google that are alleged to infringe.


When it had just been published in the news (before the new year) Groklaw wrote: "It's not on PACER yet, so likely one of the parties provided it to the journalist, which as I've mentioned in the past is a common event. What is interesting is that the complaint attacks Android directly, surprise, surprise: "54. Defendant Google has infringed and continues to infringe at least claims 1, 3, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, and 15 of the ’314 patent under 35 U.S.C. €§ 271 by making, using, selling, distributing, and encouraging customers to use devices containing the Android Operating System and associated software such as Text Messaging, Google Talk, Google Voice, and Calendar, and by making and using the hardware and software that operate the Android and Android Market infrastructure. Google’s infringement of the ’314 patent that relates to Android results from substantially the same activities as its infringement of the ’652 patent, described above in €¶ 44.""

“As a reminder, Microsoft has already attempted to feed patent trolls with Linux-oriented patents.”This can add to Microsoft patent tax and yet seem to be totally independent from Microsoft. As a reminder, Microsoft has already attempted to feed patent trolls with Linux-oriented patents. Luckily, it got caught and stopped by the OIN [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6].

This whole situation got a lot of people upset and to cite just one example, John C. Dvorak published "Software Patents Have Got to Go!" (also see "Software Patents: Good Idea or Got to Go?"):

All the brouhaha with Paul Allen suing, well, everyone makes it even clearer that software and process patents need to go.

If you haven't noticed, Paul Allen has sued Apple, Yahoo, Google and other websites over some patents he holds that preclude just about anyone from doing anything modern via a website or browser. I find the brouhaha highly amusing, and it brings up a number of questionable situations.


In addition, see articles such as "Paul Allen refiles to sue the world"; "Paul Allen revises patent suit against 11 tech firms"; "Paul Allen revises patent suit, targets Android, Apple iTunes"; "Paul Allen Refiles Patent Case VS Apple, Google, Etc."; "Paul Allen amends lawsuit against Facebook, Apple and others" and "Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen re-files patent suit against Apple" .

“The scratching patent is small beer. He is working on a breathing patent, it never happened until his birth.”
      --Satipera
As a joke, our reader Satipera wrote: "Paul Allen says he was the first person to scratch his bollocks , and if you think you did it before him see you in court. #swpats #humour"

Agent Smith replied with: "Oh, Oh, now he wants to earn money just for scratching his bollocks and nothing more... Why need to work, when he can sue ?"

To which Satipera responded as follows: "The scratching patent is small beer. He is working on a breathing patent, it never happened until his birth. #swpats #humour"

He also posted a link to "Patent Troll Alert: Paul Allen Tries Again to Scam the World". [hat tip: Satipera]

Let us be very specific here: A patent has become nothing more than a rubber stamp passing the whole thing over to the courts to figure out what might be true and then collect money from somebody. In other words, today's Patent Law is a litigation make-work program to protect the welfare of the legal profession and the courts.


That last statement nicely leads into future posts we'll make very shortly about the system which enables all this abuse. _____ * It is hard to tell what happens privately, but Microsoft mobbyists appear to have already 'briefed' (by mass-mailing) journalists for anti-Linux tilt. Some of the FUD-spreading mobbyists spin this Interval suit (simply revised, same targets) as someone legitimately attacking Linux for infringement (because it is mentioned briefly, further down in "€¶ 44" and "€¶ 54").

Recent Techrights' Posts

Dystopian Trends in Technology Make Richard Stallman More Relevant Than Ever
It's good to see him attracting vast audiences
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
 
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
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
The EPO's War on Techrights Was a Massive Mistake
The EPO started the SLAPPs after we had published a few hundreds of articles; we've since then published close to 6,000 because the attacks on us emboldened insiders to help us
General-Purpose Computers to Become Growing Area of Coverage
Without them, we have little left for controlling our lives
"They missed a great opportunity to shut up." -Jacques Chirac
Brett Wilson LLP has been trying to cheat the legal system many times
Harassment evidence: Switzerland, overcrowded fitness and yoga centers, incompetence and racism in accident response
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Vincent Danjean & Debian NXIVM collateral, blackmail risks
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
In Sweden This Past Friday Richard Stallman Explained Why Copyleft is Important
And he didn't have to 'bash' BSDs, either
IBM Layoffs Due to a Lack of Money and Company Debt Rising by Almost 10 Billion Dollars in 6 Months
IBM didn't buy Red Hat for any ideological reasons; it was a fast "cash grab" for revenue
Forbes Already Stopped Being a News Sites. Now It's a Spam and Propaganda Platform for "Paying Partners" (Companies).
news from Forbes became very scarce
Is the Second-Largest Institution in Europe (EPO) Gradually Becoming More Like a Sweatshop?
Underpaid, unqualified, inexperienced and incompatible people are already recruited to replace veteran examiners
The Register MS Has No FOSS Coverage Anymore
The Editor in Chief is like a Microsoft plant
Links 13/10/2025: "Toasty Subwoofer" and WiFi Speakers "Are About To Go Dumb"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/10/2025: iNaturalist and Tove Jansson’s Moominpappa at Sea
Links for the day
Microsoft Does Not Deny That Large Retailers Like Walmart, Costco and Target Are Giving Up on XBox (and Not Stocking It)
No doubt XBox is in trouble and rumours suggest that more mass layoffs are imminent
We'll Encourage Richard Stallman to Talk About Software Patents at the EPO Next Week When He Visits Munich (EPO Headquarters)
Go listen to Richard Stahlmann
Investigative Journalism Protects Society From Corruption, Crimes Against Women, Assaults on Civil Society
"what is the point of men doing military practice to defend a system that is so rotten?"
Swiss pimp usurping reputation of legendary Tissot boss Francois Thiébaud from France (BaselWorld, SWATCH Group SA)
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Paris 'Love Nest' & Debian Outreachy: from Lycée Lakanal to ENS Cachan, Cr@ns, nepotism
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Richard Stallman to Give Public Talk in 3 Hours, Then in the Technical University of Munich (Germany) Next Week
Richard Stallman at TUM on 21.10.2025 18:00, MW2001
Arnaud Parreaux lost case defending rogue employer
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Mathieu Elias Parreaux declared bankrupt in Switzerland
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Breakdown of the Rule of Law and Patent Law in the European Union (EU)
The EPO cannot recruit suitably qualified patent examiners this way, let alone retain them
Gemini Links 13/10/2025: Good Films, Wizard of Earthsea, Upgrading the Steam Controller's Stick
Links for the day
Leaks and Whistleblowers: Our Plan for Today
Society simply cannot advance when too many people self-censor
It's Not Justice When One Side Denies the Other Side the Ability to Even Speak
At this stage, Brett Wilson LLP is in my humble opinion acting in contempt of the Court
Links 13/10/2025: Australian Catholic University Uses Slop to Libel Students, Canada Threatens to Kill Beluga Whales
Links for the day
How Not to Silence Tux Machines (It'll Only Backfire, Badly)
defending Microsoft while attacking this site
Slopwatch: UbuntuPIT and Google News
It seems abundantly clear that Google News and Google in general participates in the slop epidemic
Vincent Danjean (not INTERPOL), Claire Bardel & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Christmas lynchings: Martin Krafft (madduck), Penny Leach (mjollnir) & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 13/10/2025: Birthdays and "Committee Unable to Contact Nobel Prize Winner"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 12, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, October 12, 2025
The Same People Who Attacked Richard Stallman (RMS) Are Attacking Daniel Pocock to Discourage People From Listening to His Information
Pocock is being demonised for the same reasons and by the same people who attack RMS
Your Typical Anti-Richard Stallman (RMS) Cancellist
"About the RMS cancellation"
Richard Stallman (RMS) Has Announced His Talk in Rome Less Than 20 Hours in Advance (and on a Sunday)
Why did he wait until the night before?
We Are Safe in a Modern "Tech" Society, Right?
People are safer if they control their own computing
GNU Tools Cauldron Event in Portugal: Videos Now Available via Invidious
Go have a look
The Way Things Are Going, They May Soon Stop Saying "Web Address" and Instead Say "Chrome Address"
The Web isn't built or based around open Web standards anymore. It's centered around user-agent.
Microsoft as a Golden Cage
"I was laid off by Microsoft and can't find a job. I'm weeks away from giving up my apartment and moving across the country to live with family."
Weekend Discussion About How IBM's Bluewashing of Red Hat Will Cause "Enshittification" for Users
"I worked at a software company that was acquired by IBM so I knew it was game over for RedHat the day they were acquired"
Brett Wilson LLP Getting Sued by Its Very Own Clients, a Legal Story That Has Made the Mainstream News (Law360)
Law360 or Law.com are about as mainstream as one can get in that "sector" (litigation 'industry')
Slopwatch: GNU/Linux Sites That Became Slopfarms and Spamfarms
The Web is a mess and "Linux" or "Ubuntu" sites became part of the problem
Richard Stallman's Talk 25 Hours Away, Aula Magna Palazzo del Rettorato (CU001), Sapienza Università di Roma (Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5)
The talk is 25 hours away and we see some QR code for it
Gemini Links 12/10/2025: Watches, the Depression of 2026, Gamboling with Odds
Links for the day
Links 12/10/2025: 'False' DMCA Claims and Slop Facing Perils Again (the Hype Wears Off)
Links for the day
Microsoft Has Just Lost Privacy Case in Austria and Its Latest Moves Make a Complete Ban Seem Imperative
Microsoft is not a software company, it's a spying agency that uses software to collect data
The Register MS: Microsoft is the Security Expert, Not the Prime Culprit, So Buy More Microsoft
This front page feature is devoid of any actual substance, it's just Microsoft copypasta
Stefano Zacchiroli (Zack) & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Lucas Nussbaum & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 12/10/2025: "Palm Computering", Further Exploration of Slide Rules, and Key Takeaways from The Well-Grounded Rubyist
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 11, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, October 11, 2025
Tomorrow: Founder of the Free Software Foundation and of GNU/Linux, Richard Stallman, Speaks in Roma (Rome), Italy at 4PM
GNU/Linux is more important than ever in this dystopian world
Microsoft and Apple Are Rare Topics in Geminispace
in Geminispace it's rather safe to assume everyone is into BSD, GNU/Linux, and sometimes retro