Bonum Certa Men Certa

“Kroes Was Quite Clueless About Software Patents and UPLS,” So the Commission Made a Microsoft Patent Deal Last Week



Summary: The Unified Patent Litigation System (UPLS) threatens Free software in Europe; Microsoft gets away with deceiving to pass this as law and it harms EU innovation in the process

TWO months ago we wrote about Neelie Kroes strengthening Microsoft's monopoly using software patents in Europe, where Microsoft is fighting to make these legal.



There has just been a live public broadcast which the FFII captured in full. It still requires some editing, mostly clipping.

“Kroes said Commission made a deal with Microsoft about patent last week...”
      --FFII's President
Remarking on this broadcast very succinctly, the President of the FFII wrote: "Kroes said Commission made a deal with Microsoft about patent last week, I need to clip that part of the video [...] Kroes was quite clueless about software patents and UPLS, she was favouring interoperability exception...

"Plenty of stuff about ACTA in the video recordings of Kroes [...] Plenty of questions about net neutrality..."

Meanwhile, over at The Register (UK), Microsoft booster Gavin Clarke advertises their software patents (yes, in the UK even). Earlier today he published this piece of promotional nonsense.

Microsoft is not growing the fastest when it comes to USPTO patent awards. That honor in 2009 went to Hon Hai Precision with a 39 per cent increase in awards, followed by LG Electronics and Cisco Systems on 32 and 30 per cent respectively. But Microsoft had a bigger portfolio.

[...]

There you have it fanbois: Those who think IBM walks on water because of the patents and IP its generously given to Linux and open-source, the mask as finally slipped. Patents to IBM are a currency it uses to get what it wants.


There he goes, giving away his agenda by calling GNU/Linux users "fanbois" in a supposedly professional publications (it all changed when Microsoft signed deals with it). Here is Clarke glorifying the law-breaking Gates, who protested against patents when Microsoft was smaller (which makes him a hypocrite). It's no secret that IBM is not a friend when it comes to software patents, so Clarke is attacking straw men.

Some of the stuff Microsoft is patenting gives reasons to grumble. Here is one patent that we mentioned last week:

Trust Microsoft to try to make money out of an oxymoron. Because that’s what putting DRM in the same sentence as P2P amounts to.

Steve and the Boyz reckon they’ve found a way to use DRM on P2P networks to distribute commercial media online.


Microsoft has turned from a company that fails to innovate to a company that actively stifles innovation, using software patents.

Over in Japan, the risk of patent war is said to be increasing, according to Reuters. Japan is one of the few (if not the only) countries in Asia that actually recognise software patents.

Japan tech needs M&A but patent war more likely



[...]

To regain their competitive edge, Japanese electronics makers should be looking to mergers and acquisitions, cost cuts and other moves to boost their market share abroad, according to government officials, investors and bankers. But veteran executives tend to be resistant to change, and the many factions found in Japanese conglomerates often slow decision making because of the value placed on consensus building.


Maybe it's good for China that Japan retards its own progress by innovating in the courtroom rather than the lab. Patents hinder innovation and promote monopolisation. It's as simple as that and it has been proven by many separate studies.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Slop Is Not Intelligence and It Does Not Enhance Productivity
Like voice dictation, which cannot tell the difference between "sheet" and "shit"
Our Three Lawsuits Against Microsofters Are About to Become a Lot More Relevant to GNU/Linux
The Master will easily understand why Garrett has been attacking me since 2012
They Don't Tell Us that 'Digitalisation' (Now Sold as "Hey Hi") Just Means Customers Become Unpaid Staff and Are Made Accountable
People are being conditioned to associate technology with something undesirable, at times even unbearable
 
Links 23/07/2025: Retreating From Transparency on Jeffrey Epstein, We No Longer Have Press Freedom
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/07/2025: Piano and Food
Links for the day
New and Old
On Ageism in Tech
EPO Crimes Are Spreading to the British Court System
Society is now paying the price for failing to tackle crimes at the EPO
It's Time to Dump SharePoint and Here's What to Use Instead
Nextcloud, ownCloud, Bookstack, MediaWiki, and MediaGoblin
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 22, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, July 22, 2025
Brett Wilson LLP Has Gone Silent
Sometimes silence says more than nothing at all
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, Planet Ubuntu, and LinuxTechLab
some slopfarms show no remorse and they don't value their reputation at all
Links 23/07/2025: Book Bans, Storms, and Kangaroo Court for Patents Commits More Unlawful Acts of Overreach
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/07/2025: Thinkpad and Pinephone
Links for the day
Links 22/07/2025: "Blog Restart" and Microsoft Clobbered by “ToolShell"
Links for the day
Global Warming and Global GAFAM Energy-Wasting
Burn more money (borrowed, loans), then hope the waste will somehow translate into profit?
No Compliance With the European Patent Convention (EPC) at the European Patent Office (EPO)
It's about preventing competition against this autocracy
Blue-Collar Trolls vs White-Collar Trolls
Examples of white-collar trolls
Apple Vision Pro Failed So Badly That Its Sales Are About 2,000 Times Smaller Than iPhone Sales
What's left for Apple to offer other than hype?
To Millions of People "Year of the Linux Desktop" Was Some Time in the 1990s (Bootable GNU/Linux as a Complete Operating System is Over 33 in Age)
In some sense, "year of the Linux desktop" was 33 years ago
Make No Assumptions (or Demands) About the Screen Resolution Used by Other People
There are usability aspects, aside from accessibility aspects
Why Wayland (and XWayland) Won't Solve the Key Problem It Proclaims to be Tackling (the Same Is True for Rust)
The problem isn't Wayland per se but the false promises and efforts to force everybody to move to it whilst insulting or demonising everyone who won't play along
Diplomatic Immunity Should Not Exist for Anybody
The EPO in its current form gradually 'normalises' the end of European democracy
Brett Wilson LLP Stopped Sending Me Papers When I Showed It had Sent Me Over 5 Kilograms of Legal Papers
A week ago we lodged our third lawsuit
Microsoft Mass Layoffs and Shutdowns Became the New Normal at Microsoft
Microsoft mass layoffs became a topic of everyday media coverage since May
Amazon Web Services (AWS) Has Layoffs and Microsoft Gaming/Entertainment Division Has an Uncertain Future
it's good to see all those horrible things crashing and burning
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 21, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, July 21, 2025
FSF "Raised Almost $139,000 During This Summer Campaign"
"Thank you for making a stand against dystopia!"
Gemini Links 22/07/2025: VPS Exploited and Fear of View
Links for the day
LLM Bots vs Techrights
Slows things down a bit
New Publication Sheds Lights on Abuse of Workers at the European Patent Office (EPO)
Put in simple terms, they're killing the Office, harming remaining staff, try to hire rubber-stampers
Links 21/07/2025: Hardware, Health, and Imperialism
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/07/2025: "When Buying Isn't Owning" and "CMS Special Edition"
Links for the day
Links 21/07/2025: Indie Web and Toxic Politics
Links for the day
[Meme] Microsoft Lawyers Throwing Stones in Glass Houses
threatened me with bankruptcy
Google "AI Overview" is Not AI and Not Overview
do not be misled; what Google does isn't smart, it's just ripping off the sites it already crawled for as long as 27 years
Making the Case to Dump Microsoft and GAFAM for National and Digital Sovereignty
"Sovereignty is difficult"
The Tactics of the Opposition (Microsoft Lunduke): Associate With K00ks, Throw in Vaccines to Muddy the Water
Who stands to gain from this?
Europe's Second-Largest Institution (EPO) and Largest Patent Monopoly Office Needs More Transparency, Not Less Transparency
In the EPO, what good are elections when one candidate literally bribes all the voters?
How Not to Report News About Microsoft
This pattern of misreporting is so widespread that it's hard to believe it's not intentional
Computer Science is Under Attack, They Want Everyone to be a Consumer
If people can no longer acquire Computer Science education and real Computer Science experience, they will not know how to control their own digital destiny or emancipate the very same universities that now control the syllabus and instead of teaching Computer Science encourage the outsourcing of systems
The Best Tools Are the Simplest Tools
There's a hidden message here about the merits of sticking with X
Ofcom Online Safety Group Speaks of Protecting Women Online, Will Brett Wilson LLP Ever Listen?
They've essentially became like the Taliban's "burka police"
Social Control Media Relies on Advertisers, So It'll Always Be Hostile Towards Free Software
Sales, sales, sales
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 20, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 20, 2025
Fragmentation of Data
Life is too short to "hoard" data
In Defence of "Spinning Rust"
Just because something is "old" (or older) doesn't mean it ought to become extinct
Using Free Software to Prepare Legal Documents
LibreOffice is openly complaining about OOXML as an obstacle
Tech and Technology Are Not the Same Anymore
"Are you into tech, Sir?"
Our Articles About SLAPPs Receive Recognition and Interest
This week we shall continue writing about the 3 lawsuits we filed