12.20.09
Posted in Bill Gates, Microsoft, Patents at 7:40 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Why the pharmaceutical industry does not need patents and a reminder that Bill Gates invests heavily in these patents
A FEW days ago we promised to say something about pharmaceutical patents, which are some of the most evil and unethical patents out there (see Novartis for example [1, 2, 3, 4] as it is a top lobbyist for patents, just like Microsoft).
In our previous explorations of the Gates Foundation we showed that it was a multi-billion dollar investor in pharmaceutical patents [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. There is an unethical issue here — an issue which we wrote about in recent days [1, 2].
Here is a long and interesting analysis of the Gates Foundation, aptly titled “rich out for the poor”
It concludes with:
I love it when everything comes together for the good of those who love the poor. This is the climate change I’d like to see enveloping the whole creative CGIAR.
Speaking of climate change, the Gates Foundation denies global warming and so do other patent maximalists like Gene Quinn (a patent maximalist who lobbies very hard for software patents). He is calling Global Warming a “Fraud” in order to defend patents which prevent the fight against pollution and other harms to the environment. Well, patents and ethics never mixed well.
As we promised at the start, we wish to also rebut the perception that patents can save lives. It’s the propaganda used by the big pharmaceutical companies and it is contradicted by one of the first answers in the following good talk. [thanks to our reader Fewa for pointing this out]
The claim that patents are vital for the pharmaceutical industry ignores the fact that almost all the research is publicly funded and from the overall income only about 15% is diverted towards research and discovery. About 40% goes towards manufacturing and the rest is profit and marketing (sometimes telling people there is something wrong with them so that they buy drugs they do not require and may even have nasty side effects and unknown long-term ramifications). Research prioritises proftable products like those which rich people will buy (e.g. creams against wrinkles), as opposed to drugs that save lives of poor people who can hadly pay and thus are not in the shareholders’ interest.
One of our readers, The Mad Hatter, added the following two references yesterday:
1. Big Pharma’s Crime Spree
Big Pharma’s Crime Spree
Rather than having a deterrent effect, the number of Big Pharma high profile criminal settlements is increasing and the settlements are getting bigger. BIG PHARMA’S CRIME SPREE is a riveting report by David Evans in the current issue of Bloomberg Markets Magazine relying on recent criminal legal settlements. It leaves no doubt about the fact that Big Pharma’s business practices are defined by criminal activities.
2. Possible MS Breakthrough Neglected By American Media
Possible MS [Multiple Sclerosis] Breakthrough Neglected By American Media
Folks who suffer from Multiple Sclerosis are not really a rowdy bunch. Activism and outrage are hard to muster for the chronically fatigued. But since Thanksgiving, people with MS and their loved ones have gone all ACT-UP 2.0.
That is, the past few weeks have seen a surge in online activity within the MS community – as bloggers, vloggers and forum posters are calling one another to action in response to the lack of response to what many perceive to the scientific breakthrough they’ve been waiting for.
There are even more heinous crimes from this whole industry. Apart from experimentation with poor populations (drug testing in Africa for example*), just a few weeks ago there were reports which revealed that the big pharmaceutical companies paid makers of generic drugs to close shop and stop competing so that affordable drugs are taken off the market shelves (and thus kill an already-impoverished population). Sounds like Microsoft, doesn’t it? Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz made it rather clear that this is a common problem, not the exception.
There are many reasons to argue that the pharmaceutical industry does not need patents. It is trying to defend and sometimes shore up an old business model, whereas others in this field have already moved on to paradigms of sharing (see the references here). It is less wasteful, so progress is more rapid and the customer/patient benefits the most. █
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* To give an extreme example, the United States used the population of south Vietnam as a “control group” after resorting to chemical warfare.
“Gates has created a huge blood-buying operation that only cares about money, not about people.”
–AIDS organisation manager, December 2009 (New York Times)
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Posted in Google, Microsoft, Search at 6:37 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Microsoft and Verizon gang up against Google, which is ironically working on Android for Verizon contracts
A FEW weeks ago it was confirmed that Microsoft had negotiated smearing and maybe excluding Google. Rupert Murdoch is known to have done that [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13], but there might be more to it.
Earlier this year Microsoft used its software, which it conveniently called FSF (Family Safety Filter)*, to block Google. This is the type of thing which ought to have Microsoft sued for more antitrust violations and now comes this:
Verizon has unilaterally updated user Storm 2 BlackBerries and other smartphones so that their browser search boxes can only be used with Microsoft Bing.
The move is part of the five-year search and advertising deal Verizon signed with Microsoft in January for a rumored $500m.
[...]
Previously, the search box – baked into the top of Verizon’s browser, above the url address bar – could be set to search Google, Wikipedia, and other sites.
Naturally, such sites can still be queried via the browser proper. But countless users are up-in-arms over the switch. A discussion thread dedicated to the change at CrackBerry, a popular BlackBerry user site, is now 36 pages long.
Microsoft is against choice. If the rumour is true, then Microsoft is even willing to pay $500,000,000 to remove all choices. How is this not anti-competitive? Accumulated below are references from the past 2 years. They show that Verizon has a mixed record when it comes to Free software, free speech, and of course net neutrality. █
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* Microsoft also uses the acronym RMS to describe user-hostile software.
References
[1] Android Gets a Big Backer in Verizon, and Palm Opens Up
The prospects for mobile open source just get brighter and brighter. Following months of rumors, Verizon Wireless has said that it will put substantial resources behind the open source Android platform, in a broad partnership with Google. Google and Verizon will work together to deliver new products and services that they say will arrive “in the hands of consumers quickly.” Notably, both companies have pledged to put unique applications onto handsets, including apps from their internal developers and others from third-party developers.
[2] The Droid Has Been Rooted — Now What?
Verizon’s Motorola Droid is a brand-new phone today. Like many smartphones before it, the Droid has been rooted so that owners of the Android 2.0-based smartphone can install multitouch support (including pinch-to-zoom gestures), enhanced themes and other previously forbidden goodies.
[3] Google, Verizon teaming to develop Android devices
Verizon and Google have entered into an agreement to jointly develop wireless devices based on Google’s open-source Android mobile platform.
During a teleconference today, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam and Google CEO Eric Schmidt outlined the companies’ new strategic partnership that will develop Android-based smartphones, PDAs and netbooks, and deliver users with applications sold through the Android Market app store. Verizon says that it will have two Android-based handsets on the market by year-end with more to come by 2010.
[4] Flip Flops Are Evil
Surprisingly, AT&T has reversed its position, and is now passionately supportive of net neutrality. What, you may ask, caused this dramatic shift? Why, Google, of course. AT&T filed a letter with the FCC today complaining that Google Voice blocks calls to certain rural locations. According to AT&T, blocking phone calls is a violation of net neutrality — dictionary, anyone? — and thus Google is in violation of the rules that aren’t rules which AT&T vehemently despised but now passionately adores.
[5] Verizon, AT&T: Net neutrality not OK for wireless
“We are concerned, however, that the FCC appears ready to extend the entire array of Net neutrality requirements to what is perhaps the most competitive consumer market in America: wireless services,” he said.
He argues that wireless networks differ from wireline broadband networks because bandwidth is more limited on a wireless network. And he said that imposing new rules on how carriers operate their wireless networks would stifle investment.
[6] Google, Verizon Partner Over Android
The company that operates America’s largest wireless telecommunications network now considers itself a friend of Android. Google and Verizon Wireless have sealed a deal that’ll see the two working together on mobile products and services.
[7] Red Hat Linux helps to power Verizon’s Cloud
Verizon Business rolled out its Computing as a Service (CaaS) product today, which brings the big carrier directly into the cloud marketplace. While the cloud is a compute infrastructure, it still needs an operating system and for Verizon that means both Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Microsoft Windows.
[8] Verizon to Offer HP Mini Netbook and ‘Mi-Fi’ Service May 17, Reports
It would come with either Windows XP Home (SP3) or Ubuntu Linux and 16/32GB solid state or 80GB hard-drive options.
[9] Verizon Launches MiFi Hotspot Without Subscription
When we first heard about the MiFi last December, Novatel pointed out that the router is actually a tiny Linux PC, capable of running its own software. The router could check e-mail and store messages on a memory card without a PC, in theory. But Verizon’s version looks like it’s just a Wi-Fi router – for now, at least.
[10] The Verizon Hub Widget Phone Just Got a Lot More Exciting
I’m reviewing the somewhat anachronistic Verizon Hub connected phone. Now that I’ve seen its future—an open platform built on Linux with sleek hardware from this decade, like capacitive touchscreens—it’s way more exciting.
[11] Verizon Launches ‘Hub’ VOIP Phone
Verizon Wireless launched a VOIP-based, Linux-powered home phone on Friday, the Verizon Hub. The Hub plugs into a home broadband line and acts as a family calendar, limited Web browser, messaging center, digital picture frame and, of course, a phone.
[12] Verizon VoIP phone doubles as DPF
Verizon Wireless announced a VoIP touchscreen phone that incorporates a digital picture frame (DPF) capability and can send navigation instructions to Verizon mobile phones. According to one report, the Verizon Hub (pictured) is based on OpenPeak’s OpenFrame phone, which is said to run Linux.
[13] Verizon CEO doesn’t know about open source
I just got out of a Q&A session with Verizon Communications CEO Denny Strigl and being an open source guy I asked Strigl about open source. Specifically I asked what role does open source play at Verizon now, especially in light of the recent SFLC lawsuit against Verizon on GPL infringement.
Strigl looked at me with a blank face and asked me to repeat my question. He was completely clueless.
He then asked one of his PR people to answer, and they too were clueless.
[14] Verizon offers details of Usenet deletion: alt.* groups, others gone
Cuomo claimed that his office found child porn on 88 newsgroups–out of roughly 100,000 newsgroups that exist. In a press release, he took credit for the companies’ blunderbuss-style newsgroup removal by saying: “We are attacking this problem by working with Internet service providers…I commend the companies that have stepped up today to embrace a new standard of responsibility, which should serve as a model for the entire industry.”
[...]
What this means in practice is that, thanks to the New York state attorney general, Verizon customers will lose out on innocent discussions. Verizon is retaining only eight newsgroup hierarchies, even though over 1,000 hierarchies exist.
[15] Verizon Wireless, seven others join Linux phone org
Verizon Wireless has chosen Linux as its mobile phone “platform of choice,” it said. Starting with feature phones in 2009, followed by iPhone competitors, Verizon will offer Linux phones compliant with specifications from the Linux Mobile Foundation (LiMo), an industry group it joined today, along with seven other companies.
[16] Update: Verizon, Mozilla join mobile Linux group
Verizon Wireless is throwing its support behind mobile Linux, becoming the first U.S. operator to join the LiMo Foundation, a group developing mobile Linux technology
[17] Palamida Exec Chides Verizon For Not Responding On GPL Suit
“I’m a little surprised by it, to tell you the truth,” Tolliver said in a recent interview. Palamida is a supplier of risk management software for managing an enterprise’s software assets. Its auditing system scans code and identifies its origins, from open source projects or other known sources.
“Usually these issues can be resolved before pretty promptly,” he added. But Verizon had no response to the center when it sent a letter notifying Verizon of a violation, and it’s had no response since the center filed a suit Dec. 7 in federal District Court for the Southern District of New York.
[18] Member review of Verizon FIOS
For the broadband installation, one thing I really didn’t want was to have Verizon install a bunch of junk software on my computer. So when it was time to set up the connection I offered the tech a linux laptop. He said, “Linux, what’s that?” I said, let’s try it anyway. The normal procedure is to connect your computer, go to a special website and download a bunch of software, then set up your account username and password and agree to a terms of service. Of course, going to the special website we get the message, “your operating system is not supported”. I asked the tech to call his support, who laughed when he heard the word linux, but then relented and gave us an extra special website with login and password where we could set everything up without downloading software. Yay! The TV and phone setup were completely straightforward.
[19] Verizon Embraces Google’s Android
In yet another sudden shift, Verizon Wireless plans to support Google’s (GOOG) new software platform for cell phones and other mobile devices.
[20] Verizon to support the Linux desktop, but only if your rich…
Verizon has been supporting the linux desktop for Red Hat for various applications for a while now. It wasn’t until recently that with the help of some unpaid employees that they got it working for Ubuntu.
[21] Verizon Business Expands OS Support for Enterprises
“Windows is our most deployed system, but Linux is our fastest-growing one…”
[...]
He also said that AIX and UX also have strong cross-platform compatibility with systems like Linux, and are well designed to handle applications requiring huge memory and scalability.
[22] Verizon takes over Microsoft TV code
Unhappy over the memory footprint of applications and delays in rolling them out, Verizon has ditched some of Microsoft’s television software and has chosen instead to write its own.
[23] Verizon sues FCC over open-access auction
Media reform group Free Press, a supporter of the open-access rules, accused Verizon Wireless of sending “lawyers, FUD and money” in an attempt to overturn the FCC’s decision.
[24] Google vs. Verizon: The ‘open access’ saga continues
First with Net neutrality and now with so-called “open access” rules for forthcoming wireless networks, there seems to be no end to the discord between Google and Verizon.
[25] BusyBox Developers, SFLC Sue Verizon for GPL Infringement
The same two principal developers already successfully sued Monsoon Media, and they have litigation pending against Xterasys Corporation and High-Gain Antennas, LLC. Here is the press release from the Software Freedom Law Center on the Verizon suit, followed by the complaint as text.
[26] Verizon Being Sued for GPL Infringement
According to the SFLC, Verizon can be added to the list of companies infringing on the GPL. They filed a lawsuit in New York yesterday (pdf) alleging that the company is handing out routers using the GPL’d software ‘BusyBox’ without accompanying source code.
[27] Verizon: Open access should cut costs
Verizon Communications Inc.’s plan to open its wireless network to any devices, not just Verizon cell phones, is partly motivated by a desire to cut costs, the company’s chief operating officer said Wednesday.
[28] Thin clients in, PCs out at Verizon Wireless
Sun’s Sun Ray is unique among thin clients, many of which still use some kind of embedded Windows or Linux operating system, even though the applications are shifted to servers.
[...]
With about 5,000 Sun Ray terminals installed at three Western call centers, and a fourth in progress, Verizon has seen a 60% to 70% drop in desktop problems and a 30% decline in electrical use at each center.
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Posted in FSF, GNU/Linux at 5:35 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Bruce Perens weighs in on what seems like a mountain that grew out of a molehill
LWN.net has this new article about the hostility towards GNU in GNOME [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. The discussion there is interesting. Bruce Perens posts the first comment, stating: “Isn’t this just about Lefty’s anti-RMS jihad?”
The comments then refer quite a lot to his personal attacks on yours truly, later leading Perens to writing:
I ran into Lefty at a community summit out here a while back, and his emotional state was really high. He explained his beef with RMS with a cry in his voice, I kid you not. When I was less than sympathetic, he practically ran out of the room in tears.
Now, I am no stranger to getting emotional about things. But I’ve learned that it doesn’t generally help me win the argument.
He really needs to focus on ACCESS, which, IMO, is a sinking ship. RMS isn’t the big problem in front of him.
Richard Stallman was never the real problem and this can hopefully be resolved without unnecessary attacks on character/figure. Sticking to the issues alone we can all form a discussion that focuses on the real rivalry which the free/open source world is facing. ACCESS can help a lot in the advancement of Linux, which in turn helps GNU. █
GNU and Linux are stronger when put together
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Posted in GNU/Linux, GPL, SCO, UNIX at 5:12 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Caldera’s GPL violations as indicators of sheer hypocrisy
GROKLAW seems to be on a mission to inform SCO lawyers, now that it knows for sure that they regularly read the Web site. We gave some examples yesterday and more parts are coming which shed light on:
• Answering SCO Bit by Bit – Caldera’s GPL Fingerprints All Over the Place
Remember when SCO said it never released any of its own code under the GPL? Methinks it spoke with forked tongue.
I have now had an opportunity to look at files in another Caldera Linux distribution, Caldera OpenLinux 2.3-16, and I see Caldera’s GPL fingerprints all over the place, much as I discovered using emacs to open up source files in OpenLinux eServer 2.3 the other day. And Caldera did write code itself that it released under the GPL. It also tweaked GPL’d packages and distributed with its own branding under the GPL. And it can’t seem to stop distributing binutils under the GPL, while claiming in the SCO v. IBM lawsuit that it never did so.
[...]
On page 23 of this PowerPoint from SCOforum 2007 about open source tools SCO provided, you will see that SCO recommended installing “GNU binutils” with OpenServer 6. And on page 26, they listed all the places you could get Skunkware. On page 30, they suggested getting source code from the Linux source RPMs, so as to get the latest patches. And on page 37, it says that in 2001, SCO “submitted UW7 changes to FSF to standardize SVR5 triplet.”
In case SCO doesn’t have any techies left, here’s a big hint for them. Binutils includes ELF, one of the things SCO’s expert Dr. Thomas Cargill, claims is infringed. And here’s where they were still distributing it, in 2006, and here and here. All distributed under the GPL. I wonder if, at trial, Novell will ask SCO’s technical witnesses about this. Did Ron Record, Caldera/SCO’s Skunkworks maintainer, ever warn them that they were distributing binutils under the GPL, and that ELF was in there? Did anybody? If not, I’m sure IBM will, when it gets its turn at bat.
• Answering SCO Bit by Bit – more a.out.h and errno.h and elf.h, this time in OpenLinux 1.3
Groklaw member valerio checked the contents of Caldera Systems OpenLinux 1.3, a CD from 1998, and you’ll never guess what he found. Yes, friends, the CD contains, in the archive file col/install/RPMS/linux-kernel-include-2.0.35-1.i386.rpm, two files SCO claims are infringing if placed in Linux:
/include/linux/a.out.h
and
/ include/asm-i386/errno.h
This is the second time we’ve caught SCO/Caldera distributing these two files in a Caldera distribution under the GPL, despite its claim that it never authorized them to be in Linux or under the GPL. The first was copyrighted 2000, two years before this instance valerio found. What? Inadvertent twice? As you will see, they put the files there themselves. In Linux. Under the GPL. And now they want to sue people using Linux because they are in there.
Groklaw’s coverage of SCO is still a lot more accurate than that of the mainstream press, which increasingly relies on Groklaw for input (documents, analysis, and other information). Today’s journalists are naturally sloppy/lazy [1, 2] because news moves faster and they cut corners when investigating, if they investigate at all. Unless that changes, press releases from companies will resemble the subsequent coverage, which is recipe for disaster because PR lies [1, 2, 3]. That’s its goal and there are very recent examples. The previous post says a lot more about it because stories are a lot simpler than people are led to believe (complexity discourages exploration and proper investigation). █
“…Microsoft wished to promote SCO and its pending lawsuit against IBM and the Linux operating system. But Microsoft did not want to be seen as attacking IBM or Linux.”
–Larry Goldfarb, Baystar, key investor in SCO
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Posted in Deception, GNU/Linux, Marketing, Microsoft, Mono, Novell at 4:56 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
“Truth is Treason in the Empire of Lies”
Summary: Few new articles accurately describe what is really happening at Novell and what the legal terms really are when it comes to Moonlight
“DOWNHILL” is where Novell is going [1, 2], but Novell’s PR department works hard to hide it and therefore instill confidence in the minds of prospective customers. We have already shown the lies and the spin in the press, but now we shall show some positive examples that are very, very few.
Ulrich Bantle hits the nail on the head with an accurate description of what Novell is doing at the moment:
In January 2010 Novell will consolidate four business units down to two and eventually say farewell to managers Jeff Jaffee and Roger Levy.
[...]
If the restructuring has larger human resource implications is not something Novell is currently revealing.
Actually, Novell will not exactly “say farewell to managers Jeff Jaffee [sic] and Roger Levy.” They are quitting by all indications, shortly after Novell reported more than $200,000,000 in losses.
“People deserve to know the truth and reporters should not be pressured (or bullied) to tell lies and glorify Novell.”Novell has a dilemma in its hands. Novell is deep in trouble, but the staff cannot just say it like this to shareholders, to whom they have an obligation to lie to the press (making the investors confident while delivering obligatory status messages). It is the job of journalists to actually interpret — given context — what lies beneath the PR and the spin, then actually objectively tell the story. People deserve to know the truth and reporters should not be pressured (or bullied) to tell lies and glorify Novell. The reason some people never receive flak is because they never criticise anything of authority, not publicly anyway. Those who dare to challenge the propaganda model* are being constantly attacked and defamed [1, 2, 3].
One guarantee to being attacked is criticism of Mono (and by extension Moonlight). Most journalists either avoid confronting Mono or are simply parroting what Novell and Microsoft want people to say. Sam Varghese is the exception and as he pointed out a few days ago, the latest developments around Moonlight show that it is still a Novell-only piece of software. Even the Microsoft-faithful Tim Anderson is saying it very clearly right now (he wrote about it a day after Sam had done so):
Moonlight 2 released; no Microsoft codecs unless you get it from Novell
[...]
It seems an odd restriction, and means that most users should download from Novell.
With the latest Mono release it remains clear that Microsoft builds fences around GNU/Linux developers. Ryan Paul carries on promoting the thing, which is rather unfortunate. It deceives people and this is not responsible. █
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* One good example of the propaganda model is Gates Foundation PR, with payments that go to bloggers, journalists and books, which do the PR [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] and also bully those who dare to criticise the activities of the Gates Foundation. People are also being ridiculed and thus discouraged if they dare to say the truth about Vista 7. Microsoft’s PR agencies are spying on critics and responding to them.
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