Bonum Certa Men Certa

Challenging Patent Law and Companies That Are Not Obeying Common Law

Lady justice



Summary: A word about the focus in Techrights and why it makes sense at this stage and era of patent wars, UEFI, bundling, etc.

A site like Techrights occasionally needs to revisit and explain its goals. A lot of people correctly point out that we're targeting particular issues more than others. It is a conscious decision.



Microsoft's history when it comes to antitrust action has been thoroughly documented. It can be researched with the help of many documents or pages including federal Web sites, journals, newspapers, legal filings, blogs, news sites, and hardcover books. No single site or piece of literature can really claim credit for having done a grand exposé of the company's actions, but the efforts of many help piece together a cohesive story of systematically-abusive people, some of whom have grown beyond Microsoft and are now a threat to health, nutrition, education, etc.

Techrights has limited its scope of coverage to more properly address systemic issues which enable Microsoft (among others) to extort, to cheat, and generally to distort the market to the point where honest people simply cannot compete. There are many good people out there who lost income or lost their jobs because of Microsoft's abuses against the Web (as Web developers), abuses against other companies (diving them out of business by cheating), its shoddy software (e.g. security issues, bugs) and expensive licences that drain companies' budgets and render people redundant.

"If Microsoft does not obey the law, then it is a special problem."While it is true that there are many malicious companies out there except Microsoft, this simply does not excuse Microsoft or in any way justifies its bad behaviour. United we need to stand, insisting as ever before that the rule of law is respected also by the super-rich and never subverted to accommodate or legalise their criminal activities.

The many writings about Microsoft are fueled not by hatred but by aspiration to have a civil society that fosters honest developers and thus maximises benefit to technology users. Stallman has pointed out in this site that Apple became a greater threat than Microsoft, which I still doubt is true, depending on what it is a threat to. Therefore, despite the fact that I de-emphasised Microsoft in 2010-11 when I started working two jobs simultaneously and hence lacked time, Microsoft will remain a point of focus. Novell is pretty much gone, but the patent extortion carries on and we must fight against software patents to shield dominance of Linux-based platforms, especially in portable devices.

With the exception of daily links and IRC logs, further posts will focus more on facilitators of software patents and those who exploit them. Brands will change, platforms will rise and fall over the years, but one thing which remains quite persistent in relative terms is the rule of law and those applying it, or not applying it. If Microsoft does not obey the law, then it is a special problem.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Law Firms Facing the Consequences for Patently Abusive Litigation on Behalf of Microsoft Employees Who Got Arrested for Strangulation and Had Done Even Worse Things
Having spent 1.5 years bullying me with patronising letters on behalf of Microsofters, last week they got served a massive bill and, in effect, lost the Hearing
LLMs Breaking Everything
Computing and the Net became a playground for scammers and "bros", like people who "invented" fake currencies and also try to tell us that LLMs spewing out things will have some real value
1989: Free Software as "Open" Software (OSI Didn't Coin "Open Source", It Also Predates Linux)
"One man's fight for Free software"
 
The FSF Board and FSF Beard
So the FSF's Board has grown
New Report From the EPO's Staff Representatives in The Hague (LSCTH) Reveals Many Unsolved Issues
Local Staff Committee The Hague (LSCTH) wrote to staff just before the weekend
Links 22/06/2025: More Slop Lawsuits (Copyrights) and "America’s Oligarch Problem"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/06/2025: Gigantic Toolchest and Annoying Bots
Links for the day
The Calling
Persist and persevere, justice will come your way
So Far Every BetaNews 'Article' is LLM Slop, So BetaNews is Officially Just a Slopfarm
They just don't seem to value what they have
IBM Rumour: Mass Layoffs (RAs) Lists Being Made for Consulting, With Effect in July 2025
Bogus companies with no viable products and no world-leading (in their field) staff are doomed to perish
Links 21/06/2025: Data Breach With 16 Billion Passwords, Dutch Government Recommends Children Under 15 Stay off TikTok and Instagram
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/06/2025: Notes about Typst (and LaTeX) and Opos
Links for the day
Microsoft's Competition Tactics: Sabotage GNU/Linux Installs, Block Chrome
Edge is dying
The Microsoft OOXML Modus Operandi: Throw 1,000 Pages of Other People's Work for a Judge to Read Ahead of a One-Hour Meeting
No time to discuss this - that's the point
Formalities Officers (FOs) at the EPO Are in Trouble, Reveals Internal Report
We already know, based on an HR pattern we saw at IBM and elsewhere, that reallocating roles can be prerequisite for dismissal and those who do so expect many to resign anyway
The Web is Slop and FUD, Let's Go to Gemini Protocol
Lupa sees self-signed capsules at 92.4%
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, June 20, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, June 20, 2025
Links 21/06/2025: Phone Bans for Concerts, Tensions in Taiwan Strait
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/06/2025: Spoilers, Public Yggdrasil Node, Changes to AuraGem Search
Links for the day
"Six years of Gemini!"
From gemini://geminiprotocol.net
Gemini Links 20/06/2025: Summer Updates and Hardware Failures
Links for the day
Links 20/06/2025: Google Shareholder Sues Google and Google Sued for Defamatory Slop ('Hey Hi') Word Salads ('Summaries')
Links for the day
Linux Journal Might Have Become the Latest Slopfarm Targeting "Linux", the Trends Are Concerning for Dying News Sites
They tarnish the Web with junk and then die
On "Learning to Code"
quality may suffer, plus things get bloated
Quick Points Regarding This Week's Court Hearing
it paves the way for us to squash all the SLAPPs from Microsofters
Common Mistake: Believing Social Control Media Will Document Your Writings/Thoughts and Search Engines Like Google Will Help You Find These
Many news sites wrongly assumed that posting directly to Twitter would be acceptable
The Manchester Bees and This Hot Summer
We have had a fantastic week so far this week
Gemini Protocol Enters Its Seventh Year, Growth Has Accelerated!
Maybe in June 20 2026 there will be over 3,500 active capsules?
Mastodon and the Fediverse Have an Issue: Liability for Content (Even in Other Instances) and Costs
self-hosting is the only logical path forward
Why Microsoft and Its 'Hey Hi' (Slop) Frenzy Fail While Sinking in Deep, Growing Debt
Right now, like Twitter around the time it was sold to MElon, "open" "hey hi" is a big pile of debt with a lot to pay for that debt (interest payments)
Europe is Leaving Microsoft, the Press Coverage Isn't Sufficiently Helpful
The news is generally positive, but the press coverage leaves so much to be desired
Slopwatch: Linuxsecurity, BetaNews, and Linux Journal
slippery slope
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, June 19, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, June 19, 2025
Gemini Links 20/06/2025: Gemini Protocol Turns 6!
Links for the day