11.18.07
Quick Mention: Microsoft Loses Over Patents Intended to Enforce ‘Microsoft Tax’
The following news story might actually relate nicely to our coverage of OEM tax/chokehold and replacement of that eroding tax with Linux 'patent tax'.
An appeals court on Friday rejected Microsoft Corp.’s challenge to a $142 million trial loss over patents on a way to prevent software piracy.
“Substantial evidence supports the jury’s verdict” that Microsoft infringed two valid patents owned by closely held z4 Technologies Inc., the appeals court in Washington, D.C., ruled.
[...]
“There’s something about it that strikes us as, ‘How’d that happen?’ ” said Andrew Culbert, chief Microsoft patent counsel. He said Microsoft probably will ask the court to reconsider.
Also on the issue of patents, here is a good new rebuttal to Bill Hilf’s arguments in the DInformationWeek article.
Page 3 is the best part of the interview. Mr. Hilf talks about having a “map” (which wasn’t correct, as Information Week pointed out); he then adds:
Classically, our preferred plan is to license our technology in a very proactive and productive way versus litigate.
Which doesn’t answer the questions: what, are, these, patents?
Mr. Hilf, please tell us. We all want to know. Please.
SundayRefugee said,
November 18, 2007 at 3:40 am
Nice to see M$ on the losing side of the mafia racket it tries to Soprano Open Source with. Funny how M$ can continually manage to talk out of both sides of it’s mouth
eet said,
November 18, 2007 at 4:12 pm
…and if Roy “The Troll” Schestowitz wouldn’t try to split the community into a MS-friendly and an MS-unfriendly side, we could all celebrate such news together. Please stop doing the ugly work for Microsoft, Roy!
Note: comment has been flagged for arriving from an abusive Internet troll