Bonum Certa Men Certa

American Front Group Open Invention Network (Riding the Linux Brand) is a Proponent of Software Patents in Europe

Just like IBM (with its Trojan gifts to Europe), its foremost member (and where it originally came from)

IBM and the Holocaust in Europe



Summary: The impact of American multinationals on Europe's policy is difficult to deny; in fact, we're observing the same old lobbying/lobbies still working hard albeit more covertly (typically using front groups)

AT the start of the year we said that "IBM, Which Will Soon be Buying Red Hat, is Promoting Software Patents in Europe" (none of this has changed). IBM's lobbying for software patents in Europe is a subject we've covered for over a decade. About a decade ago IBM said 'on behalf' of Free/Open Source software that patents on software would be beneficial to it or that such software would not be possible without the patents. It was an incredible lie that enraged many people at the time. Remember that the first CEO of OIN was from IBM, a founding member. OIN is now run by a politician, the tennis partner of Timothy Geithner. After his political career he did work that's akin to patent trolls'. OIN is partly managed by patent trolls or 'former' trolls and is similar to the Linux Foundation in the sense that it hardly represents what it's called after. It's somewhat of a PR-centric façade -- a marketing-esque strategy for influence-buying and policy-shaping. It's a corporate front group of very large corporations with about half a million patents and many thousands of patent lawyers. Many if not most patents they deal with are on algorithms. They value these bubbles of theirs at tens of not hundreds of millions of dollars; they don't want to lose that imaginary 'asset' (in essence a state-guarded monopoly).



Also recall David Kappos, who had worked for IBM before becoming the Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). After his term there he's a lobbyist (paid by IBM and Microsoft) against 35 U.S.C. €§ 101, i.e. for software patents. We already wrote several articles about how IBM paid IPO (another front group) to lobby against 35 U.S.C. €§ 101. Don't expect anyone at Red Hat to comment on it (that would put the future job in jeopardy as takeover looms*). IBM spoke for software patents as recently as this month (the mock/stacked 'hearings' in Senate) and so did Kappos. Nothing has changed since the declaration of intentions to take over Red Hat.

"OIN is now run by a politician, the tennis partner of Timothy Geithner."Citing this recent report from IP Kat on "4IR" (buzzwords that the European Patent Office (EPO) paid European media to promote), Benjamin Henrion wrote in Twitter: "When the patent industry wants to know about "Open Source", they invite "Open Invention Network (OIN)", which is working for the patent industry. So it loops back to itself, while insulting independent developers at the same time" (referring to Keith Bergelt, who was there alongside Battistelli's friend Yann Ménière). To quote the relevant part about the "EPO study":

The discussion during Panel 2 concerned "Autonomous Vehicles: Changing Markets, Business Models and Institutions" and had a more practical approach: the panelists, Monica Mangnusson (Ericsson), Yann Ménière (European Patent Office), Ruud Peters (Philips) and Matthias Schneider (Audi), and moderator Keith Bergelt (Open Invention Network) discussed various underlying issues concerning the topic at hand, including the EPO study Patents and self-driving vehicles and the role of patents in autonomous vehicles, SEPs and the combination of technology therein. Questions that were raised included: who will be the beneficiaries, i.e., who will be willing to pay a higher price for autonomous cars? Will autonomous cars create more traffic? What is the value assigned to the patents? Is 5G or WiFi technology more suitable? How do carmakers know what needs to be developed?



OIN is facilitating this ludicrous narrative, wherein "Open Source" too was invited. It recently participated in an EPO event that promoted software patents in Europe under the guise of "blockchains". It generally boasts large members that are proponents of such patents. That now includes (formally) Microsoft! They're happy to even repeat PR lies such as "Microsoft loves Linux," rendering them complicit in a campaign of deception.

Microsoft also in the shadows...



Over at the site connected to IAM, a writer now obsesses over Microsoft 'cloud' (NSA surveillance) and António Campinos as EUIPO chief. The headline is a question: "Cloud computing: an answer to cybersecurity?"

The short answer is no because sending all your data to the Pentagon is the very opposite of security, it is a data breach. It's a violation of privacy and basic/fundamental laws. To quote some bits:

The president of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM), Antonio Campinos, recalled how the digital world transformed the fight against counterfeiting, citing an IP Perception Study led by the European Observatory that showed 42% of young people feel that illegal downloading is a legitimate act when done for private use.

[...]

The Director of Microsoft Digital Crime Unit, Juan Hardoy, pointed out...

[...]

Is this a way to promote the Microsoft Cloud server or does Cloud computing really prevent companies from cyber criminality? Companies seem to be pretty divided on this topic.


Which companies? The ones that do the surveillance and those that do not? Whose voice is being aired?

"Innovation and litigation summit" has just been promoted by its organiser, another think tank funded by only one side of the debate (to air only its views). Their own writers admitted this to me last month. This event from the trolls' think tank has nothing to do with innovation, only litigation. Obviously no innovators there, only parasites who sue. And IP Kat has also just published an article about a legalised 'protection racket' scheme. This scam insurance 'industry' is cashing in on patent trolls and that "AYE PEE" cult (people who pretend to themselves that the world would be better off with every single gene and thought privatised and monopolised). What we have here is one bunch of parasites profiting from other parasites; one can eliminate the former to get rid of the other (the latter being this insurance scam). Firms like IBM are the biggest culprits and the firm of Kappos profits from this mess, so don't expect them to abandon their twisted mindset any time soon. Instead they'll mock scholars who do. They will urge small companies to buy "insurance" (for lawyers' fees in case IBM decides to sue, as it often does). _____ * In a recent public interview with Fedora Project leadership ("Ask Me Anything") they said upfront that people can ask anything except about IBM. This is how afraid they are (of the new/upcoming boss). Some Red Hat staff used to campaign against software patents -- a practice that no doubt IBM frowned upon.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Only a Third of or 1 in 3 Web-Connected Devices is a Desktop or Laptop, According to statCounter
we can expect Android to widen its lead
Peter Moon's (Computerworld) Interview With Richard Stallman
Stallman: If you want freedom don't follow Linus Torvalds
At What Point Does Outsourcing Constitute Malpractice?
Brett Wilson LLP's new staff page is misleading
 
Polygamy, from Catholic Synod on Synodality to Social Control Media & Debian CyberPolygamy
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
The Days Are Getting Shorter, the First Half of 2025 is Almost Over
We're gratified to see significant increase in traffic and also positive feedback on the work we do
Turning GNU/Linux Into a Political Football
X (not the site) is Free software
X Server Still Works for Many People
A lot of people will grow suspicious of Wayland boosters/pushers if they persist and insist on using these tactics
Exactly a Week Ago "BetaNews Staff" Said "Betanews Is Growing Alongside You". Since Then Every Article (All by "Camila Nogueira") Has Been LLM Slop.
BetaNews is basically a slopfarm
When the Microsoft Aggressors Rely on Several Law Firms ('Attack Dogs', 'Guns for Hire'), Not Just One, Lawyering Up Against Techrights (Acting on Behalf of Americans Against UK Publishers)
From serving customers at some restaurant he has moved on to bullying people with demand letters
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 23, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, June 23, 2025
The "Tarzan Effect" in Compilers and Software
What happens when you forcibly make things 'work', either by hacks or by disregarding warnings (like those that compilers tend to issue)?
Gemini Links 23/06/2025: Mass Tourism, Hair Love, and Google Gemini as a Googlebomb
Links for the day
Law Firm Burgess Mee Does Not Fully Deny Participating in Abusive Litigation for Serial Strangler From Microsoft
I am not unfamiliar with these tactics
The Modus Operandi of Wayland Pushers: Make It Political
do what I say or you're a nazi...
Links 23/06/2025: RFE/RL Contributor Vladyslav Yesypenko Released, Recording Industry Cutbacks
Links for the day
Brett Wilson LLP Solicitors (M): Over 99.9% of Our E-mail is Self-Marketing, We Send You 3.5MB E-mails for Less Than 1KB of Text
Why would tech people entrust legal matters to such people?
United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sailing to GNU/Linux, According to statCounter
countries in that region will quickly learn the price of neglecting digital sovereignty
From Do Your Own Research to Do Your Own Search
The Web is full of garbage; search engines amplify this garbage
More People Moving to Geminispace?
at age 6+ Gemini Protocol seems to have gained some maturity and it seems like more people use it
Permutation in LLMs Does, Inevitably, Change Meanings and Therefore LLMs Cannot Properly Rephrase or Summarise Texts
LLMs lack actual grasp or comprehension of what they spew out
Links 23/06/2025: Many Security Breaches, Population Declines
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/06/2025: "America at the Crossroads" and OpenWRT Surgery
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 22, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 22, 2025
Pure Dove
Different means different, and sometimes those who "deviate" from "the norm" have a point
Censorship is a Sign of Weakness Which Invites More Censorship Attempts
revolutionaries don't succumb to pressure from bullies
Why It's Unlikely That LLM Slop Will Dominate the Web in the Long Run
Slopfarms will eventually perish (they have no actual value) and "survivors" on the Web will be sites that never depended on search engines and social control media
GNU/Linux in Argentina Now Measured Near 5%
Like in central Europe, they must be seeing an increasingly hostile US
BetaNews is Fake News, Composed by LLM Slop
nothing in BetaNews is written by humans anymore
Links 22/06/2025: Giving Up on Smartphones and 'Jaws' at 50
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/06/2025: Furniture Construction and Bubble for Comments
Links for the day
Links 22/06/2025: Windows TCO Tales and YouTube Getting More Hostile to Users
Links for the day
The FSF Board and FSF Beard
So the FSF's Board has grown
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
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
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
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