03.22.08
Posted in News Roundup at 4:17 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
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Posted in Asia, Deception, ECMA, Microsoft, Office Suites, Open XML, Windows at 1:36 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
“It’s a Simple Matter of [Microsoft’s] Commercial Interests!”
–Microsoft’s Doug Mahugh about OOXML in Malaysia
Microsoft really has no shame. If it were a person, it would probably have been arrested by now for harassment, for stalking, for bullying and for bribery. But Microsoft is not a person. Microsoft is still a fairly powerful corporation and it is also above the law in certain parts of the world.
The latest batch of stories which come from Malaysia are disgusting at best. Microsoft should be utterly humiliated and embarrassed now that people spill the beans. Here is the first post. It’s the post that earned a fair bit of attention.
But to pass off a foreigner as a Malaysian organisation’s representative? That’s really stretching it, dudes. It’s not as bad as having someone from Senegal representing another country, but it’s still not particularly … appropriate.
[...]
Which is also why there was an uneasy silence when Doug came back into the room to remove his computer, and he gruffly said, “I think it’s best that I leave.” I thought that was noble of him, and a great way to exit with whatever dignity he had left. I don’t think he would normally bend his ethics to represent an organisation’s national branch which he does not belong nor contribute to, but we must all understand, that employees at Microsoft are all facing a really stressful time now.
They are fighting like their jobs depend on this, and unfortunately for Microsoft as a brand, they are killing themselves. Bending their morals, burning their bridges which they have built so long and hard over the years, and hurting so many people and organisations over this silly matter of a File Format.
What the blogger might not be aware of is the fact that a press release from last week showed Microsoft’s brand taking a plunge from top 10 or top 20 down to top 50 or top 100. This comes in addition to a big drop in the employment ladder ranks. It was last updated a couple of months ago.
There are also Microsoft’s financial worries, which it keeps secret. OOXML may be a question of Windows’ continued dominance and the company’s relevance as a whole. But does it justify breaking the rules and pulling a 'covert ops'?
See the comments in Bruce Perens’ highlight of this incident. It did not quite end there. There were followups.
Here is noooxml.org’s take, which was summarises quite rudely:
Some people change their gender. Doug Mahugh quickly changes hats.
Here is another take from Malaysia:
Here goes:
1. Doug, you are claiming that you wanted a technical debate with YK and yours truly. You never contacted us prior to the PIKOM meeting and never told me that you would be present at TC4. How can you claim that you wanted a technical debate when you never bothered to get in touch with the people you wanted to debate with? Your logic simply does not compute[4].
2. Your blog post says “they threw me out before the meeting started”. Well, no shit sherlock. If you turn up at a meeting without giving due notice of your nomination as an alternate representative of IASA, you really can’t be surprised if they weren’t too happy, eh? There are proper processes to follow in Malaysia’s standards body and IASA flagrantly violated them.
[...]
There you go. I’m not going to pursue this any further (but Doug, do feel free to write another scathing post, I’ve got /dev/null all prepped up and ready here). I just felt folk reading Doug’s blog and OpenMalaysiaBlog should be able to see this from another perspective. Specifically mine. Either that or this is just another excuse for more sandiwara (translation: drama).
This one is the latest, some context covered here. Remember how these guys used to be stalked. At least there were no smear campaigns. No apparent ones anyway. Microsoft does these campaigns secretly, until/unless they leak out. █
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Posted in Database, ECMA, ISO, Microsoft, Open XML, Standard, Steve Ballmer at 1:18 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Lest we lose sight of OOXML’s real problems
The level of abuse of and in the process [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11] often leads to distraction. We must immediately find ourselves discussing the technical deficiencies of OOXML, as opposed to a meritless process alone.
Rick Jellife’s continued tradition of serving Microsoft (and Australia at the same time… talk about conflicting interests [1, 2]) now involves taking people’s words out of context to infer the very opposite of that they say. Shades of Steve Ballmer.
In the latest round of this mild confrontation, Jim Melton talks about a tedious process lasting 20 years, whereas Jellife cherry-picks selective bits of interest. Jim Melton, ISO SQL’s editor, was unhappy about misinterpretation and Pieter summarised.
You’ve written 6000 pages of specification largely in secret (and, I understand, recently added over 1500 more pages) and given the world five months to read, absorb, understand, review, critique, and establish informed positions on it. Worse, whether it happened because of unreasonable methods, pure random chance, or genuine and unexpected interest, the fact that the size of the JTC 1 Subcommittee that was to vote on the document suddenly exploded gives the appearance that somebody was trying too hard to stack the deck…almost as though it wasn’t really desired to have too much real review.
Stephane keeps up with his excellent essays which offer a purely technical smack-down of OOXML. The latest talks about Microsoft’s Custom XML.
“Custom XML” does not mean much, despite Microsoft ample evangelism of said feature. Technically speaking it has no merit within the enterprise space because you end up sharing corporate data. An interesting fact is that “Custom XML” is actually only implemented in Word 2007. For instance, the ECMA 376 specification provides a data binding for Word 2007 documents, exclusively. Ironically enough, the ability to store an independent XML stream as part of a ZIP package, is just a feature of the ZIP library, not Microsoft’s innovation.
To get an idea of how bad OOXML really is, also consider critical bugs and Rob Weir's latest. █
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Posted in Asia, Microsoft, Open XML, Steve Ballmer at 12:55 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Microsoft: but all our well-paid partners say “Yes”
Reports about India’s “No” vote have started to circulate more widely, but nowhere can you find the lesser-explored problems that led to outrage. The following article is particularly amusing where it mentions Microsoft’s response to the debacle.
“While we are disappointed with the decision of the [Indian] committee, we are very encouraged by the support of IT industry players … who voted in favor of Open XML,” said a statement Microsoft e-mailed to InternetNews.com.
But wait! Every single one of those in favour of OOXML was a Microsoft partner that must have voted for the company (Microsoft), not for OOXML. What does that say about OOXML, what does that say about Microsoft, and what does that say about those companies, which OSI would say "need to blush"?
But wait again! There’s more. What was Steve Ballmer’s trip to India all about?
Steve Ballmer was in India?
[...]
Interestingly, that was the day when BIS met to discuss OOXML. For those who have been following this issue, India’s final vote on the subject will be on 20th May 2008. Talk about timing!
Connect the above to the stories below, the fourth one in particular. We saw in the past some report where Ballmer pressured diplomats on OOXML issues. He does not just shout at analysts over the telephone, for results that are more 'correct'.
Also see:
Don’t let Microsoft and the press jointly rewrite the appalling history of Microsoft’s manipulation in India. █
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Posted in America, Bill Gates, Europe, Hardware, Patents at 12:36 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Sue the Customer, The Retailer, Not the Developer
Glyn Moody and others like TechDirt emphasised the fact that every company is in some sense a software company. In a way, it makes everyone subjected to abuse caused by software patents. As proof of this, witness the news:
Press Statement from Gibson Guitar in Regards to Guitar Hero Retailer Lawsuit [vis Groklaw]
On Monday, March 17th, Gibson Guitar Corp. brought a lawsuit against various retailers, which are selling Guitar Hero products that are infringing on one of Gibson Guitar’s U.S. patents. Gibson Guitar took this action reluctantly, but is required to protect its intellectual property and will continue to do so against any other person in accordance with the law and its rights.
There were early signs of this, but now come the articles which speak of the consequences. Mind the fact that the shops are being sued, not the software developer.
A federal lawsuit filed Monday claims Wal-Mart, Target Corp., Kmart, Amazon.com, GameStop Corp. and Toys “R” Us should stop selling the game.
In a digital age, software patents menace everyone.
Thirty Smacks in One Fell Swoop
Watch another new report.
Columbia University Professor Emeritus Gertrude Neumark Rothschild says 30 companies are infringing on her patent for laser and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). In response, she wants the U.S. government to ban those companies’ imports to the U.S. that are in violation.
Yes, an embargo is actually being suggested. Only half a day ago we wrote about Qualcomm.
The U.S. International Trade Commission will launch an investigation into Sony and about 30 other companies on possible patent infringements related to Blu-ray disc players and other products.
Just like with the FTC, it’s unlikely to be good news, unless you are a lawyer or a law enforcer cracking down on ‘nasty’ unlicensed products.
UK Pushed Into Vortex of Confusion
Yesterday we mentioned the latest bafflement in the UK (over software patent) following Finjan's latest (Microsoft connection) and some previous reports. It seems like an attempt to phase in and enforce software patents in Europe. Even the BBC reports:
The government is appealing against a High Court decision that granted Symbian a patent on a computer program.
The ruling overturns a refusal by the UK Intellectual Property Office to give the mobile phone firm a patent.
This is a recipe for problems. █
“If people had understood how patents would be granted when most of today’s ideas were invented, and had taken out patents, the industry would be at a complete standstill today… some large company will patent some obvious thing… take as much of our profits as they want.”
–Bill Gates
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Posted in Deception, ECMA, Europe, Formats, Microsoft, Open XML at 12:12 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Belgium is frequently mentioned here for its less fortunate status as land of the lobbyists — a status which comes with the high level of authority and influence Brussels has earned. Belgium, however, is also a place where ODF was exceptionally well received. So, it’s not entirely surprising that Microsoft is reportedly doing some stuffing.
Today was the vote in the Technical Committee in Belgium. The room was full of people I had never saw before. But when it comes to vote, the Yes men are there.
Other recent examples include Romania, Pakistan and Egypt. █
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03.21.08
Posted in News Roundup at 10:36 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
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Posted in America, Europe, Microsoft, Patents, SUN at 10:07 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Courtesy of the chaps at Digital Majority there are some interesting updates on the patent situation. In short, it remains a load of rubbish.
United Kingdom
Shortly after discussing Microsoft’s possible (although very indirect) role in interfering with UK law on software patents comes this:
U.K. patent office ordered to accept software patent
A U.K. appeals court decision is causing confusion over longstanding European regulations that generally forbid granting a patent for a computer program.
This is covered here as well.
High Court says UK-IPO was wrong to reject software-related patent
The patentability of software is a controversial area of UK intellectual property law. The question seemed to be settled in a decision by the Court of Appeal in 2006 which outlined how courts should determine whether an invention consists purely of software, and therefore should not be awarded a patent.
That ruling took in two cases, one involving a company called Aerotel and another involving inventor Neal Macrossan.
Sun Con-Con-Patent
Remember the thoughts and insights from Scott Mace? It seems like Simon Phipps kept his promise and a clarification has been put in MySQL’s retired page, which used to protest against software patents. It doesn’t look too exciting and it’s hardly even a protest.
The MySQL patent program is in the process of being integrated into the Sun patent program. In general, Sun uses its patent portfolio to defend communities and indemnify customers. Check back here for further updates.
In the meantime, check out the blogs of Sun’s CEO, Jonathan Schwartz, and CTO, Greg Papadapoulos, for Sun’s view on software patents.
It’s a tad disappointing, overall.
The SCOs of the Patents World
SCO did not engage in confrontations over patents, but similar types of patterns cab be seen in this latest patent harassment, which targets the ‘small guy’, the scapegoat and the scarecrow.
I wouldn’t want to be accused of being anti-IBM but the news that online fruit store Harry & David (H & D) was suing IBM is very worrying. The case concerns patents that IBM did not own, which Harry & David bough as part of IBM’s WebSphere/NetCommerce retail software. H & D alleges that it had to buy a licence from EPOS maker NCR to cover these patent. It is also saying it paid Charles E Hill Associates for patent infringements relating to the IBM software. Whatever the outcome of the case, this looks like a patent mess. First, IBM should not have sold software containing patents that it had not already licensed or owned. Second,
Why did NCR and Charles E Hill Associates go after the customer? Surely if it was IBM’s software that had infringed their patents then they would have a legitimate claim against IBM. Ah, but IBM would be a hard target given how SCO’s patent case against IBM/Novell and the Linux community has played out. Like SCO, these companies have gone after the soft target: the end user business that bought IBM’s software, I presume, in good faith.
The Land of No Winners
A state of patents is a state where ‘innovation’ is self limiting. Imagination is restricted by law and this article from Forbes seems to confirm that the system totally lost sight of its goals.
Software patents, in particular, are performing even worse today. People thought that once the [U.S. Patent and Trademark Office] gained experience in these evaluating patents, then the quality would get better … and the amount of [related] litigation would go down. It hasn’t. We have no opinion on whether USP Office is doing better or worse, but we know for sure that the amount of software litigation has grown over time. The odds that a software patent will be litigated in the first four years of its life have gone up too.
Lastly, to paraphrase the guys from Digital Majority, “is this innovation”?
Qualcomm Chip Ban to Stand
Broadcom Corp said on Wednesday a U.S. appeals court let stand a lower court order barring wireless chip maker Qualcomm Inc from selling chips that infringe on three of its patents.
If embargoes are a sign of innovation, then there must also be human life on Mars. Poor Qualcomm [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20]. █
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