Microsoft Gets the C|Net Soapbox, Criticises Free Software
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2007-03-09 01:13:52 UTC
- Modified: 2007-03-09 01:15:29 UTC
When you see a column with the headline "Two cheers for intellectual-property law", then you know that someone is serving a personal agenda. Indeed,
it was Microsoft. While demonising Richard Stallman, Brad Smith tries to justify software patents. Need we mention the
recent lawsuits over support for MP3?
Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation, noted evidence that "Linux infringed 283 different software patents." He defended such violations on the grounds that "proprietary software is evil."
It wasn't long ago that Microsoft decalred joint victory -- the context being Open XML -- amid actual defeat. Self-serving news of this kind reached Beta News and now it's C|Net, which are notorious due to their pro-Microsoft bias.
Meanwhile, using press releases, Microsoft says a company has
paid to be allowed access what the European Commission describes as protocols too trivial to be patentable. Novell could be the precedence here.