Bonum Certa Men Certa

Like Team UPC, the Internet Association (Megacorporations' Front Group) Hijacks the Voice of Small Businesses in an Effort to Steer Patent Policy Against Them

Internet Association transition letter



Summary: Another new example of an attempt by large corporations to speak 'on behalf' of small businesses and shape patent law for themselves, very much to the detriment of these small businesses

EARLIER this week Benjamin Henrion caught a glimpse and had a go at this letter to Donald Trump (PDF). He said that the "Internet Association speaks about patent litigation for small companies, while none of its members are small" (this can be verified by checking their site). Dimitris Xenos called it a "classic!" and we have made a local copy [PDF] as it's likely to be removed in the future, making the Internet Association less accountable for these actions.



We have become familiar with and grown accustomed to this tactic (Microsoft has a front group that still does this, for decades now). While the EPO marginalises the appeal boards (if not getting rid of these boards altogether, in preparation for the UPC) we keep seeing the likes of Bristows, principal boosters of the UPC, claiming that the UPC would be good for SMEs (a complete, utter lie, see what SMEs themselves are saying). The firm refuses to give up on the UPC even though without the UK it's going nowhere. See what it has just published in its increasingly neglected blog:

Following Finland’s ratification of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPC) on 19 January 2016, the government issued on 26 May a legislative proposal (Bill 87 2016) to enable establishment of a local division of the UPC in Helsinki. The Bill’s first reading in parliament was on 25 October, and parliament approved the Bill in its second reading on 28 October 2016.


It does not mention that Finland -- like the UK -- might be leaving the EU not too long from now. It's generally considered to be one of the most likely nations to leave next. Like chronic liars that speak about the UPC's impact on SMEs, the Internet Association hopes we'll lose sight of who and what it stands for. The members are all large companies and its just another front group of theirs.

When it comes to patents, shaping everything in favour of megacorporations (like those owned by Trump) is to be expected. It's MEGA (corporations), not MAGA. Hopefully it won't be the same in Europe; it is under Battistelli and it's one among many reasons he needs to leave.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Nat Friedman Had Left Microsoft GitHub Exactly One Week Before Matthew Garrett Sent His First SLAPP (Which Was an Empty Threat, He Was Abusing the Legal System of Another Continent to Terrorise Critics Who Had Just Unearthed Major Microsoft Scandals)
And it was likely talked about by his lawyers around the exact same time Nat Friedman was packing up
 
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part III: Data Protection Failures, Just Like at the European Patent Office (EPO)
Just less than a decade ago we showed that the EPO had illegally shared staff data with third parties
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, June 05, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, June 05, 2025
Pushing Microsoft's Proprietary Trash/Trap as "Open" and "Linux" (Windows is 'Linux' Now?)
Maybe it's time to just stop saying "FOSS". The people who use that term are promoting Microsoft.
Slopwatch: Comparing Linux to Vermin, Attacking BSD With LLM Slop, and Helping Microsoft Demonise Linux/OpenBSD/SSH Over Weak User Passwords
Microsoft must be laughing its arse off, seeing how a bunch of Serial Sloppers (no skills, no comprehension, no integrity, no creativity) and slopfarms use Microsoft LLM to flood the Web with anti-Linux FUD
Links 05/06/2025: US Poised for Another $2.4 Trillion to Debt, Cops Want GAFAM Kill Switches
Links for the day
Links 05/06/2025: First US Spacewalk 60 Years Ago, GNU Octave 10.2.0 is Out
Links for the day
Scandinavia Saying Goodbye to Microsoft
The Danes have had enough of Microsoft
GNU/Linux Measured at 6% in Bangladesh, According to statCounter
Windows isn't growing, it's going away
Gemini Links 05/06/2025: Loop Earplugs Review and ANS Forth
Links for the day
Armenian Adoption of GNU/Linux
Russian influence in Armenian must be worrying to Microsoft
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part II: Turning a Once-Respected Patent Office Into a Circus and Laughing Stock
It's not legal, but administrators who don't care about the law and don't fear the law would just go ahead and turn things to junk
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, June 04, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, June 04, 2025
Slopwatch: Mindless Slop Pieces, Fake Images and Text, Linux FUD on the Cheap
spewed out by Microsoft-controlled LLMs
Links 04/06/2025: Workers' Strikes, Sudan Exodus
Links for the day
Links 04/06/2025: Linux Foundation PR Spam and Lee Jae-myung Wins Election
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/06/2025: Future Leaders of the World and Platforming Jordan Peterson
Links for the day
Links 04/06/2025: WSL Backfiring on Microsoft and "Disney, Microsoft Announce Massive Layoffs"
Links for the day
Our Case is a Very Easy Win, the SLAPPs From Microsofters Were a Grave Error, and Censoring Information Won't Work (It'll Only Ever Backfire)
Censoring is what people do when they lose the argument
Say the Truth, the Rest Will Follow
There's no guarantee that writing the truth will result in an audience (or readership), but over time - in the long run - people generally gravitate towards what they know or feel to be crude truth, not just what's comforting (albeit false or self-deluding, usually groupthink dictated from above)
How to Expose High-Level Corruption Without Getting in (Too Much) Trouble
Democracy depends on free press and freedom of the press depends on being able to safely publish (and keep available) material that bad people don't want to be known to anybody
In-Depth EPO Coverage at Techrights Turns Eleven
11 years is a very long time
Windows Measured Below 10% in Afghanistan, GNU/Linux Gaining a Lot
about 80% are Android (Linux) users, compared to only about 10% for Windows
Poland's Political Predicament and Social Control Media
Democracy and fake "tech" don't mix well; the latter tends to interfere with the former and that's why we get more "Putins" out there
EPO: Taking Away From the Staff to Give More to the Rich
The Central Staff Committee (CSC) wrote to EPO staff earlier this week
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, June 03, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, June 03, 2025
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part I: It's a Lot Like the EPO
we can commence a series soon
Gemini Links 04/06/2025: Inescapable Questions and Quitting All "Oligarch Tech"
Links for the day