Another reason to dump Apple and its hyped up platforms

Summary: Why developers who carried water for hypeOS (iOS) should berate Apple for encouraging patent aggression, not antagonising it

So, we've been writing about Lodsys recently [1, 2, 3] and yesterday we finally found out who was behind the patent troll's ammunition (here is news summary of eclectic nature). It turned out that it was the world's largest patent troll, which is interesting to say the very least. Yes, the patent comes from IV (Intellectual Ventures), which was partly funded by Apple and is part of the same patent cartel which Microsoft and Apple share. Therefore, those hypePhone developers who got sued might as well point their finger at sleazy Apple, which pools its patents with Microsoft (not just through CPTN but cross-licensing too). It is not too shocking that Apple was not sued because it cannot be sued by members of the same club, including Microsoft. Moreover, Apple cannot possibly get credit for indemnifying or defending from the same threats it has been breeding. But with yet more Apple spin and hype, anything is possible. Apple is said to just be "looking into Lodsys patent claim". Well, maybe Apple should also take a look at Intellectual Ventures, which provided the basis for this lawsuit. Apple did, after all, help create Intellectual Ventures.

What we are witnessing here is an appalling monopolisation using patents, which are controlled by companies that just plundered and pillaged others. "I went to the garbage cans at the Computer Science Center and I fished out listings of their operating systems," Bill Gates famously said. "We've always been shameless about stealing great ideas," said Steve Jobs.

Google says that it has sold over 100,000,000 Android devices. Why would anyone want to develop for Apple's shop/platforms now? Does Apple deserve the free labour anymore? That only strengthens an enemy of software development -- be it free or proprietary. ⬆