Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Should be Subjected to Antitrust Action For an Extensive Network of Patent Blackmail, But With a Lobbyist in Charge (Trump Appointee) Don't Hold Your Breath

Elaborate plot to tax Linux/Android/ChromeOS will continue unabated

RacketSummary: While it seems unlikely that renewed antitrust action will be invoked against Microsoft, there's ample evidence that Microsoft continues to feed patent trolls while offering 'protection' from them (e.g. in the form of "Azure IP Advantage," which echoes the Microsoft/Novell strategy for collecting what they called "patent royalties" one decade ago)

THE CHANCES of regulation under Trump seem slim. There are many reasons for this, but we would rather focus on patents rather than pure politics.



Makan Delrahim is a lobbyist, yet he is in charge of antitrust now. It's almost unthinkable, but with Trump in power anything is possible, e.g. people governing or regulating industries which they themselves came from and may go back to (revolving doors). Dennis Crouch's thoughts on Delrahim were mentioned some days ago in a blog of patent maximalists. To quote a portion:

Makan Delrahim, the leader of the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice of the Trump Administration, has made several interesting comments concerning patents and the antitrust interface. In a recent post on the Patently Obvious Blog, Professor Dennis Crouch discusses some debate concerning Mr. Delrahim’s positions as to when patent holders may create antitrust issues: “[Delrahim] explained that the DOJ’s historic approach has been a “one-sided focus on the hold-up issue” in ways that create a “serious threat to the innovative process.”” Professor Crouch includes links to documents concerning Delrahim’s positions as well as some responses.


Readers of ours have long called for government scrutiny over Microsoft's patent aggression (and dirty games which often rely on intermediaries). We still see such calls occasionally (they contact the Justice Department).

Remember Intellectual Ventures? The troll Microsoft pretty much created and continues to fund? The troll that passed thousands of patents to another patent troll called Dominion Harbor. Apparently, based on this update from Unified Patents, Dominion Harbor now uses proxies to engage in blackmail. Many of these patents may be worthless, as Unified Patents explained some days ago: "On February 28, 2018, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) instituted trial in an IPR filed by Unified against U.S. Patent 8,082,213 owned and asserted by Smart Authentication IP, LLC. Smart Authentication, a Dominion Harbor subsidiary and a well-known NPE, declined to file a preliminary response in opposition to Unified's petition. The '213 patent, directed to a user authentication system, has been asserted against such companies as MongoDB, Slack Technologies, Evernote, Etsy, Discover and USAA."

We have meanwhile learned from this tweet that Intellectual Ventures (IV) passed some patents to Google. "According to USPTO assignment records," IAM wrote, "Google has picked up a couple of patents from IV. After recent RPX deal shows growing band of buyers looking at IV assets..."

This patent troll, Intellectual Ventures, attacks Federal Express in the "Rocket Docket" of trolls (EDTX, Judge Gilstrap), based on this new Docket Report about a lawyer falling ill. "The court deferred ruling on defendants' motion to substitute one of its experts and appointed a special liaison to help determine whether the expert would be able to proceed at trial," Docket Navigator wrote. What looks like another patent troll now sues Huawei in Texas (the "Rocket Docket", EDTX again), based on this other new Docket Report:

The court granted defendant's motion to strike portions of the report of plaintiff's infringement expert regarding previously undisclosed secondary considerations of nonobviousness.


Another Microsoft-backed troll, Finjan, was mentioned the other day. "News of a big settlement between Finjan and Symantec including a $65m payout to the NPE and a possible additional payment of $45m," IAM wrote.

Symantec is a Microsoft competitor, one of many that are being targeted by this troll. Does Microsoft expect nobody to notice Finjan's track record? While it's selling 'protection' from such trolls?

Glyn Moody at Linux Journal has in fact reminded readers what Microsot did a decade ago in an effort to target every GNU/Linux distributor out there. To quote:

Its general strategy was to spread FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt). At every turn, it sought to question the capability and viability of open source. It even tried to convince the world that we no longer needed to talk about free software and open source—anyone remember "mixed source"?

Alongside general mud-flinging, Microsoft's weapon of choice to undermine and thwart open source was a claim of massive patent infringement across the entire ecosystem. The company asserted that the Linux kernel violated 42 of its patents; free software graphical interfaces another 65; the OpenOffice.org suite of programs, 45; and assorted other free software 83 more. The strategy was two-fold: first to squeeze licensing fees from companies that were using open source, and second, perhaps even more important, to paint open source as little more than a pale imitation of Microsoft's original and brilliant ideas.

The patent battle rumbled on for years. And although it did generate considerable revenues for the company, it failed dismally in its aim to discredit free software.


Why was Microsoft never subjected to any antitrust scrutiny over it? Right now Microsoft does pretty much the same things, albeit indirectly. Recall the never-heard-of-before Provenance Asset Group (Microsoft may be in the shadows, as we explained before [1, 2]). It is now distributing/scattering patents from Nokia, whose patents Microsoft already instructed Nokia to pass to patent trolls in the past. "Provenance Asset Group has published details of several lots of Nokia/Alcatel-Lucent patents it's selling," wrote a former IAM writer (link to the relevant page). Belatedly, this strange little entity names Dan McCurdy, Timothy Lynch, Linda Biel, and Laura Quatela as staff. Some have background in Alcatel-Lucent. RPX is mentioned there also. Microsoft too was a member of RPX until recently.

Recent Techrights' Posts

The "Davos Effect": Tarnishing the Reputation of Places Not by Overtourism But by Oligarch Infestation
The last Venice needs is an affiliation with Venetian oligarchs
Microsoft XBox Layoffs: Almost 2,000 Layoffs Became "Over 2,000"? (Over 20% of the Staff)
over 20% of staff will be let go, not counting staff that leaves voluntarily
Summer Plans in Techrights and Elsewhere
massive layoffs at Microsoft
 
Microsoft Uses LLM Slop to Defraud (or Rob) Shareholders
Microsoft is basically defrauding its shareholders by LLM slop
The Web is a Dead End
We need to adopt alternatives
When Words Lose Their Intended Meaning
examples of words that, at least in the technical spheres, don't mean what they sound like
People Who Disagree With You on Technical Matters May or May Not Agree With You on Political Things (But Usually They Do)
What bothers me a great deal is seeing left-leaning people accusing other left-leaning people of being "nazis"
"Too Much Choice" and "Too Many Programming Languages"
What IBM and its apologists aim for was attempted in the 1930s and it failed
Microsoft Lost 400,000,000 Windows Users, According to Microsoft
more people adopt smaller computers and many people replace Windows with GNU/Linux, as they don't really need a new computer
Half a Year Gone, What's to Come Next
In the second half of 2025 we expect to be done with the Microsoft SLAPPs
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 30, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, June 30, 2025
People at the Very Top of Microsoft Know How Bad Things Really Are
There's no product that can replace the former profitability of Windows licensing and stuff that went on top of Windows
Gemini Links 01/07/2025: Mid Year and a Tour of Old Languages
Links for the day
EPO Presentation Bemoans Misuse of Slop in Decision-Making on Patents and in Classification (Which is Likely Illegal Too)
We habitually mention failed use cases of LLMs on the Web
Mass Layoffs at Microsoft Confirmed, "XBox Hardware Is Dead"
It's possible that over 20% of the staff will be laid off
Links 30/06/2025: Kyrgyzstan vs Media Freedom, Dalai Lama Succession
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/06/2025: Backend Programs in Gemini and Dynamic Content Without The Scripting
Links for the day
Links 30/06/2025: Zuckerberg’s Tax-Evading Scheme Harms Kids, US Copyright Office Lacks Leadership
Links for the day
Microsoft Isn't Laying Off Tens of Thousands to 'Invest' in Slop ('Hey Hi'), It's Laying Off Tens of Thousands Because It's Running Out of Money (and Willing Lenders)
the layoffs are a sign of the business failing, not "hey hi" (whatever that is) replacing staff
Intel Lays Off 20% of Its Workforce, Microsoft is Doing the Same This Year
Like a yoyo, whatever goes up will come back down
GNU/Linux Rises to New Highs in Angola, Africa in General is Abandoning Windows
Western media barely covers Microsoft layoffs in Africa, but in recent years Microsoft culled the workforce and even shut down entire operations
Destination Geminispace (in the Age of LLM Slop and Slop Images That Infest the Web and Social Control Media)
Geminispace isn't vast, but at least it is - on average - a lot "cleaner"
GNU/Linux Growing in Sierra Leone This Year
Based on what statCounter is seeing, this year there are more and more people there who adopt GNU/Linux
Serial Sloppers Gonna Slop
More sites out there ought to call out the cheaters
Quartz (qz.com) is Spam and a Slopfarm
It used to be OK. Then they fired the staff.
Links 30/06/2025: US Economic Woes, Extreme Heat
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 29, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 29, 2025
Gemini Links 30/06/2025: "The AI Hype" and New AuraGem Ask
Links for the day
Our Desktops Are Not Your Experiments, X is Not an Experiment
Breaking what already worked
Microsoft's Big Lies Regarding This Week's Mass Layoffs Have Already Begun (and They're Already Being Spread by Slopfarms)
Microsoft is the "market leader" in slop
Explaining the Full Story of SLAPPs From Microsoft Staff
For every action there is a reaction, for every attack there will be proportionate consequences
The Openwashing Shills Initiative (OSI) - Part III: IRS and Status of OSI
"They lied to the US IRS and there’s a paper trail"
IBM Red Hat's Dogmatic Fanaticism Under a Thin Veil of "Modernism"
IBM now has the audacity to paint people who don't agree as "nazis"
Microsoft's Share in Guatemala Fell From 97% to 14%
Eventually Microsoft will get stuck in a loop of layoffs, layoffs, and more layoffs
They Made Technology Scary and Taught Us That It's Innocent, Friendly, Even "Social"
Rejection of all this "apps" and "gadgets" and "Smart" (whatever that means!) status quo isn't a rejection of society
The Media is Under Attacks Partly Because There's Little Other (Remaining) Press to Speak in Its Defence
The biggest danger here is that when there's very little press or no "opposition media" left it becomes even easier to crush critics because there aren't many people left to speak about the matter
If Your Web Site is Run by Bots, Eventually Nobody Will 'Read' It Except Bots (People Don't Want to Read Slop)
Eventually people learn from mistakes
Links 29/06/2025: Microsoft Releases False/Fake Benchmarks, "Google Wants You to Watch Ads or Take Surveys to Read Articles"
Links for the day
Links 29/06/2025: Data Breaches and Online Censorship
Links for the day
Gemini Links 29/06/2025: "The Price Of Eggs" and Gemini 3D Tic Tac Toe
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, June 28, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, June 28, 2025