Bonum Certa Men Certa

Patents Roundup: FFII Founder on IBM, Shazam Has No Case, Microsoft Wants to 'Own' Page-flipping, and Software Freedom is Hurt

Flipping pages



Summary: Founder of FFII says Florian Müller's IBM-bashing currently does not have a basis in any existing movement; other new examples of patent news

TODAY we would like to deal with some bits of news about software patents. Much of this was covered before but with different sources at hand.



Hartmut Pilch, the FFII's founder, has commented on Florian Müller's IBM phobia in the comments section of this post we mentioned a few days ago. He wrote:

I wouldn’t exclude the possibility that Florian M. could once more gain some following, even though some parts of his agenda, such as IBM-bashing, currently do not have a basis in any existing movement.


This is not entirely true because while the FFII remains critical of some aspects of OIN, it is not alone either. Criticism of IBM does have its place, but Müller goes too far and "FOSS" is not a priority of his, based on what he writes at least.

“One software patents story which makes a lot of people angry is Shazam's action, which is carried out through a litigious proxy.”The patent troll called NTP was mentioned here yesterday and its lawsuit against almost everyone has generated hundreds of English headlines, including this report from AP (there is a load of other coverage [1, 2], which makes it easier for historians to find and there is therefore no need for lists of pointers). NTP has been doing this for years (targeting fewer companies) and this case will help define people's perception of software patents. In this case, wireless E-mail is the claimed infringement. It's rather outlandish.

One software patents story which makes a lot of people angry is Shazam's action [1, 2], which is carried out through a litigious proxy. The story of the victimised Dutch developer has received some wider exposure [1, 2] and as TechDirt puts it, Landmark Digital is a "BMI subsidiary which owns the patents on Shazam's music recognition technology" (i.e. it's another front like the RIAA). Michael says:

The story is a perfect example of the ridiculous situation with patents today. Basically, the guy noted that what Shazam does in recognizing music is really not that complicated, and explained how to create something similar yourself, which he did himself in a weekend. He had not released the code, but was planning to do so when the legal threats came in. The guy wondered what patents they were talking about specifically, especially considering that in Europe, the standards to patent software are much higher. In response, he was only told about two US patents (6,990,453 and 7,627,477 -- oddly, on that last one, Google still shows it as being patent pending, even though the patent was granted last year).


According to this news report, Roy van Rijn is doing something legal as long as he is in Holland. People should help van Rijn spread his code samples so that Landmark Digital/BMI/Shazam give up their patent bullying. They can fight one person more easily than they can find a whole crowd from all around the world (where their software patents are not even applicable).

Roy van Rijn, a developer based in the Netherlands, last month posted about his plans to release open-source Java code to implement a music matching algorithm similar to that used in Shazam, which lets users identify songs from brief audio samples.

His blog post describes how he implemented song matching in Java, with snippets of code. He said that while the code is not in a releasable state, he might clean it up and release it if there's enough interest.

[...]

EFF Fellow and patent attorney Michael Barclay agreed that posting code covered by a patent could put van Rijn at risk of a lawsuit, but noted that some critical details need to be determined.

"Merely posting the code on a Netherlands Web site would not infringe any US Patents," he said.

Landmark's claim, he said, appears to be overreaching unless the company has patents in the Netherlands. "If there are no issued Netherlands patents, he's free to ship and deploy all he wants in the Netherlands," he said. "The really sketchy part, and I don't know that this has ever been litigated, is he says don't post the code."


Some legal experts have gone on the record saying that software developers should consider leaving the United States because it's too risky to develop there. That's how Richard Stallman justified rejecting software patents in Europe; it puts Europe in a position of tremendous advantage. Brad Feld, an American VC who is strongly against software patents [1, 2], mentioned the story of van Rijn in a new post of his:

In case you need more evidence around the stupidity of the whole situation, take a look at the crap van Rijn is going through. Or maybe this patent from Microsoft on “how to turn a page in an electronic book.”


Here is an article about this Microsoft patent:

As if to dispell all doubt that innovation is alive and well in Redmond, Microsoft has filed a patent application for – wait for it – the "Virtual Page Turn".

Yes, with filing number 20100175018 at the US Patent and Trademark Office, Microsoft is seeking to patent the animation of a page-flip when a user makes the appropriate gesture on an ebook's touchscreen. As the filing reads:
A page-turning gesture directed to a displayed page is recognized. Responsive to such recognition, a virtual page turn is displayed on the touch display... The virtual page turn curls a lifted portion of the page to progressively reveal a back side of the page while progressively revealing a front side of a subsequent page... A page-flipping gesture quickly flips two or more pages.


John Boyd responds to Brad Feld and Paul Kedrosky, who co-wrote an article against software patents a few days ago. Boyd says:

I wholeheartedly agree most software patents are nonsense however and serve neither society, innovation or business. Given the complications here, is it natural to suggest that the Supreme Court make law here? Should this not be within the realm of are ever capable and cogent Congress to adapt patent law to modern types of innovation and invention? Or do we need to clone Jefferson, grow him in a lab until he can make a new law for us?


For background about Jefferson and patents, see this post. Software patents may in fact be unconstitutional. "Business methods and software still patentable in U.S. following closely- watched Bilski decision," says this new headline from the Montreal Gazette. It may take years to reverse this troubling trend, assuming it ever gets reversed. In the mean time, Free/open source software like ZFS will continue to be hurt by software patents [1, 2, 3]. The ZFS story is now among Slashdot's promoted submissions where it is discussed extensively.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Bing Might Shut Down - Just Like Skype Did - Some Time in the Coming Months/Years (Parts of It Already Shut Down)
they try to bring the losses under control
Microsoft Rumours: This Week's Scale of Layoffs "Higher Than Reported" and More Coming Soon ("A Lot More Severe" Than May's)
The "3%" figure is false
Slopwatch: Sloppy Brian, Brittany Slop, and General Observations
Creative people don't need slop; there's just nothing good about it, slop appeals to lazy people careless about quality
 
Microsoft WARN Notices Proliferate in the United States
From what we've seen, this wave was more than 3% (a lot more) and the next wave/s will be even bigger (possible as imminent as weeks from now), based on insider leaks
Links 15/05/2025: Google Betrays Publishers Again, Openwashing by Sysdig
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Still Respected by Many in the Libre Graphics Community
Richard Stallman and Professor Moglen never harmed anyone
If You Read Techrights, Then You Probably Want to Read Tux Machines as Well
That site is more active than this one
Gemini Links 15/05/2025: Forced Music in Publicly Accessible Space and ~silv is Online
Links for the day
Links 15/05/2025: KOSA Censorship (USA Becomes More Like KSA) and More National Cuts
Links for the day
Your Real Ally Would Not Defend the Company of SLAPP and Strangling of Women
who's left to tell us what's true?
Breakdown of Microsoft Layoffs Shows It's About Cost, Not Performance or Hype (Like "AI")
MSN (Microsoft) reposted this with some unnecessary spin
The Lawyers Working for the Serial Strangler From Microsoft on SLAPPing Techrights Have Apparently Lost Their Voice
the moment we mentioned that their media lawyer is leaving they went all quiet in social control media
At IBM, Relocation Can be a Trick or a Trap (IBM Gets Rid of Staff Under the Guise of "Relo")
IBM is not being honest with employees
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Beyond Mass Layoffs at Microsoft: Entire Units Shut Down for Good
And it's far from over
Links 15/05/2025: Crikvenica, Analog Computer, and Slop 'Hallucinations'
Links for the day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, May 14, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, May 14, 2025
Links 14/05/2025: Fentanylware (TikTok) Harms Kids, Russia Refuses to Defuse
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/05/2025: Poseur Nerds and Mennonites
Links for the day
VS Code Is Not FOSS, And Neither Is the Site "It's FOSS"
VS Code is proprietary spyware of Microsoft, yet this site keeps promoting it like it's FOSS
No, Microsoft Didn't Lay Off So Many People Because of "AI" "Innovation" or "Efficiency" or "Era" or "Revolution" Etc.
Debunking one very common lie
What We Do When We Say "GNU/Linux" to People
It talks about "Linux", "GNU", and what it means to say "GNU/Linux"
Links 14/05/2025: Facebook And Instagram Risk Nationwide Bans, Microsoft Subsidiaries Have Mass Layoffs Too
Links for the day
Canonical Will Give You Money Only If You Work for Microsoft!
Only if you are servicing (being a slave to) proprietary forges that Microsoft and the NSA control while violating the GPL will Canonical give you money
If Microsoft Staff That Strangles Woman Pays You to Write Lies, It Will Not End Well
The past couple of years were our most productive ever
Gemini Links 14/05/2025: "Writing My Story with Inspiration from Notable Lives" and People Start Shovelling Up LLM Slop Onto Geminispace,
Links for the day
Microsoft is Very Highly Stressed About Adoption of GNU/Linux at Windows' Expense (on Former "Vista 10" PCs)
What does this tell us?
Slopwatch: BetaNoise (BetaNews), LinuxSecurity, and Slopfarms Still Promoted by Google News
The primary goal is to demonstrate the problem persists
Links 14/05/2025: Google Agrees to $1.3 Billion Settlement After Spying, China Tariffs Don't Work
Links for the day
There Are Also Loads of Microsoft LinkedIn Layoffs Today (Keep Track of the Subsidiaries They Keep Out of Headlines)
Perhaps lost in the smokescreen
There Are Bigger Rounds of Microsoft Layoffs Coming, a Cull of 10% Implemented in Waves (the "3%" Figure is Misleading, Face-Saving)
Last night we said they might do the layoffs in three or at least two waves
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, May 13, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, May 13, 2025