Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft and Apple Form Another Cartel to Allegedly Attack Linux (With Nortel Patents)

Embrace, extort, and collude

Boys playing soccer



Summary: Microsoft, Apple and various allies are playing a dangerous game with software patents and those who lose the most are members of the public

A couple of days ago we alluded to the sale of Nortel's many patents and yesterday we saw it being finalised. Apple and Microsoft founded a parasite cartel to allegedly attack Android with. This helped show that no matter how passionately companies tell us that their patents are defensive and harmless, there is no legal guarantee that those same patents will one day be used offensively, as we saw in the case of Oracle and Sun (a legal attack on Android/Linux using patents on Java). The Nortel news is no longer so new, but the impact of the sale is discussed quite a lot in pro-free software sites, e.g. in relation to the prospects of those patents being used against Android. Now that Microsoft is a blatant patent aggressor against Android, the last thing Microsoft should have is more patents. To quote one person's perspective:



Is it time for Android makers and Google to form a wider consortium to rebuff Microsoft's attacks on small Android player?

US Congress, please fix your software patent mess before it kills the spirit of innovation.


Too late. It has already killed innovation and we covered examples of good, innovative products that died due to software patents [1, 2, 3]. The so-called 'consortium' which got Nortel's patents is led by Microsoft and Apple (both are also in CPTN) and the rest is just relish. They essentially stood up against a Google bid which would have helped defend Android from some extortion (coming from both Microsoft and Apple).

Quoting another report of interest:

While many believe software patents are a tax by lawyers on engineers, they still exist. But rather than being used to advance a company's technology, patents today are used to bludgeon competition. This is why Microsoft and Apple paid billions to strip patents from Nortel's carcass: new arrows in their "beat Google" quiver. Goal according to many? Use patents to pound the fast-growing Android. Since Apple et al paid $4.5 billion (yes, billion), let's look at what people had to say.


That's a good article. A lot of the other coverage was about economics and not about the real issues, which include patent aggression and malicious patent monopolies such as this one from Microsoft which the SFLC warns about:

A patent application published by the USPTO last Thursday reveals that Microsoft has been researching, since before December 2009, how to redirect VoIP calls to intercept devices and law enforcement agents. The method disclosed by the patent application is devious—subverting routing protocols so that packets sent by any person tagged by a monitoring request will be routed through a recording agent. The application discloses "gaming systems, instant messaging protocols that transmit audio, Skype and Skype-like applications, meeting software, video conferencing software, and the like" as technologies that can use this method. In other words, Microsoft has reason to believe that their interception method can be applied to the newly acquired Skype (recently deployed in Congress), Xbox 360, and the video conferencing features in Office 365.


We alluded to this earlier [1, 2].

Those who are collectively harmed in this case are the customers. They are harmed by patents in many ways, including the artificially leveraged price they have to pay for products they buy, ranging from small things like embedded devices to large things such as vehicles. Here is the second article in a while where we see even automobile companies affected by software patents.

What needs to be done about patents in general is a reassessment of their impact. Politicians are constantly being bombarded by propaganda from friends, partners, sympathisers, lawyers, and lobbyists of very rich people -- those with so many patents that they can sue almost any rival at will.

"Software patents, for example, have already turned almost every programmer into an unintended infringer, some might even say a "patent pirate" (or counterfeiter)."A lot has been said and written about the fact that by criminalising a lot of activities in society (e.g. drinking, singing "happy birthday" without a copyright licence, etc.) we let people fall into a system which classifies them as villains but selectively enforces the rules. With or without prosecution, many people become ripe for litigation or imprisonment and patents generally make it worse. Software patents, for example, have already turned almost every programmer into an unintended infringer, some might even say a "patent pirate" (or counterfeiter). The "Intellectual Property" crowd is trying to make applied ideas seem like "theft". This basically means that we are all at the mercy of "software gods" like IBM and Microsoft, always hoping not to be the victim of litigation. Even if we are innocent (or the patents invalid), the burden of legal costs is overwhelming enough to have the defendant disengage by withdrawing a program, paying "protection money", or simply not developing along certain lines in the first place. Where it leaves society as a whole -- not just the most passionate developers -- is a situation where certain "rights lords" bully and mistreat the industry, all for the benefits of their ego and their financial gain. Innovation suffers a lot and programming becomes an applied practice preserved only for the higher class. Artificial limitations are almost always a bad idea.

When Novell signed the deal with Microsoft in 2006 it virtually joined the same cartel of patent holders, choosing to exclude -- however conveniently -- anyone who had not subscribed to that same cartel (Red Hat for example). In order to dismantle those cartels we need to at least avoid their products and convince others to do the same. The reason why some people call it impractical is the scale of those in question (naturally, one must be big to have interest in these cartels), but it is hardly a valid line of reasoning because any erosion counts, even if it is done little by little until the incentive derived from patents is outweighed by the loss of business. It took over 4 years for Novell to collapse after its patent deal with Microsoft and all those boycotts.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Digital Sanitation Good Practices
leave behind Microsoftism
10 Days Ago Richard Stallman Gave a Long Interview in French (linuxfr.org)
English translation
Science, Not Fast Food/Junk Food
The commercial exploitation of users won't stop until users exercise full control over their software or - more broadly - their computing (including data)
[Video] Dr. Richard Stallman at Technické Univerzitě v Liberci
New/via libre-liberec.cz
 
The Term "AI" is Not New and What Today's Media Calls "AI" Isn't Even AI
Only the hype was new... and totally artificial
Gemini Links 18/10/2025: "Planetary Rings", Steam, and PSU Replacement
Links for the day
Defeating LLM Abuse (State-of-the-Art Plagiarism) in the Area of Linux and GNU, Free Software, BSD, Security and So On
The aim is to get them to stop using LLMs to rip off other people's work
Links 18/10/2025: Russell Vought in Charge, US Government Leans to Russia Again
Links for the day
Credit Where It's Due: LinuxConfig.org Quit Doing LLM Slop, Back to Original and Real Articles
We waited for a while to say this, now it seems conclusive
Of Note: UbuntuPIT Aware of Critics of Slop, Adds Disclosure of Use of LLMs
We appreciate the honesty
Links 18/10/2025: Madagascar's President Flees and ICE Arrests Protest Comedian Robby Roadsteamer
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Near the European Patent Office (EPO) in 3 Days From Now
It'll be a good opportunity for patent examiners to listen, ask questions, and maybe greet him in person
From Scholar to Booster of Slop (and Even Slop in His Own Blog)
We're going to keep an eye on future posts of his
End of Vista 10 Also Good News for the BSDs
There are many news sites that recommend trying GNU/Linux this month
What's Wrong With Liking Parrots or Birds as Pets?
They'd demonise people for speaking about freedom, no matter what they say or do
The Free Software Foundation, Which Has Appointed a 43-Year-Old President, is Looking to Add Another Board Member (or Treasurer)
expect the FSF to add more people
Richard Stallman Confirms Next Week's Talk at Technical University of Munich, We Urge EPO Staff to Attend
That's probably late enough for EPO staff to attend after work
Gemini Links 18/10/2025: Notifications and Geminaut
Links for the day
Many Red Hat People Are Leaving, But It'll Be Framed Publicly as Leaving IBM
Similarly, IBM layoffs (or "RAs" as they're called) include Red Hat layoffs
Expect More Waves of Microsoft Layoffs This Month (at Least Two Rounds Confirmed Already)
From what we can gather, assuming the recent rumours about XBox are true, there will be at least 3 waves of Microsoft layoffs this month alone
Security Issues in Cisco and Jenkins Passed Off as "Linux" Problems
Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD) tactics
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 17, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, October 17, 2025
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, Linux Journal (Slashdot Media), UbuntuPIT, and Google News (Noise)
egregious plagiarism
Links 17/10/2025: Better Answers Sought After Air Crashes, "China Fans Patriotic Sentiment as Trade War With U.S. Heats Up"
Links for the day
Security is Desirable, But Not When the Term Security is Misused to Imply Centralisation of "Trust" (Whose?)
'Security' is not an excuse for vendor lock-in
Links 17/10/2025: Fentanylware (CheeTok) Causing Problems, Japanese Government Blasts Slop
Links for the day
The Linux Foundation Seems to Have Turned Linux.com Not Only Into a Spamfarm But Also LLM Slopfarm
it's polluting the Web, even important domains like Linux.com, with spam and LLM slop
Links 17/10/2025: UK’s Largest Breach Penalty and Windows TCO Examples
Links for the day
Go Watch Video About Librephone, Get Microsoft Ads
Very ethical company...
Campaign of Defamation Against the People Who Built NixOS (and Are Now Pushed Out From Their Own Project)
We've already grown familiar with - and resistant to - such tactics
Links 17/10/2025: Nestlé Crisis, Canada Post Versus 'Gig Economy' [sic] and Vista 11 Breaks Itself
Links for the day
Tux Machines Has Helped Separate Opinions/Analysis From News
In September 2023 we decided to split things apart and not repeat links in both sites
Tux Machines Has Improved Navigation of GNU/Linux and BSD News
Some more 'wiring' work
What a World Would Look Like If Everyone Used Free Software Only
Freedom is what matters, not "Open".
The Media Helps Microsoft, Amazon and Others (GAFAM and Beyond) Lie About Mass Layoffs Amid Valuation Bubble
The media, instead of saying that there's an "AI bubble" crashing the economy might instead choose the narrative of "jobs replaced by AI"
Bad Tempered? You Might Have Just Given Away That You're Losing the Argument
Brett Wilson LLP is fully aware that it is being investigated
Richard Stallman (RMS) is a Target of Defamation Campaigns Because of His Views on Software (But Politics Are the Excuse for Defaming Him)
Here in this site we try to refrain from politics, except in Daily Links
End of Vista 10 and Rise of GNU/Linux as Client Side Operating System
It seems certain GNU/Linux will grow in popularity over time
Taking Stock of a Week's Worth of EPO Leaks
We remain committed to exposing EPO corruption as long as it keeps happening
Mathieu Parreaux claims FINMA knew since day one
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Calumny, Libel, Joerg Jaspert & debian-private untouchable cyberbullies
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 16, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, October 16, 2025
Techrights Turns 19 in 3 Weeks
coverage of suppressed topics and protecting all sources/whistleblowers
International E-Waste Day Same Day as End of Vista 10
message from Akira Urushibata
The EPO's Central Staff Committee Presents Evidence That Staff Compensation Lowered While the Office Increases Income by Illegally Granting Invalid Patents
These people become millionaires by doing illegal things
Second or Third Wave of Microsoft Mass Layoffs in October 2025, This Time Portugal
Those are just the ones we know about, there may be several more
'Help Net Security' (helpnetsecurity.com) May Have Become a Slopfarm as Well
Zeljka Zorz, Editor-in-Chief at Help Net Security, was reported to us
Gemini Links 17/10/2025: Rant About Network Solutions, Strange Anomaly on Lagrange
Links for the day
EPO Staff Representation Lacks Social Dialogue With Relevant Management, Controversial and Sometimes Illegal Policies Implemented Without Necessary Input
"In this open letter, the CSC requests that the President submits an agenda item in the next available General Consultative Committee (GCC) meeting on setting up regular meetings between the CSC and the higher management of DG1."
Links 16/10/2025: Political Leftovers and Gemini Protocol Links
Links for the day
Lies Need to be Corrected
the Court never invited us
Slopwatch: Guardian Digital (linuxsecurity.com), Slashdot, Google News, and More
Maybe one day, once the bubble pops completely, Google News will just outright delist all slopfarms
Lufthansa Modern Slavery, Joerg Jaspert (ganneff) & Debian NSB Softwareentwicklung charade
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 16/10/2025: US Starting More Trade Wars With China, CIA War on Venezuela
Links for the day
SUSE Blog is Still LLM Slop, Marketing Manager at SUSE Cannot Write
Would you buy from a company or seek support from a company that cannot even write (or fakes writing)?
Pretend You're Not Dead: Microsoft Spent Almost Two Decades Rebranding Things as "Cloud, Then "AI", Now "XBox" and "Quantum"
"AI" bubble pops, Microsoft harping about "quantum" already
IBM Allegedly Found New Tricks for Silent Layoffs: LPI, Then MIS (Not PIP)
Remember that "Red Hat layoffs" won't be reported after the bluewashing
Links 16/10/2025: Red Lines and Feeding of Microsoft Trolls
Links for the day
MIT as a Propaganda Mill of GAFAM, Paid by GAFAM
"the news" today
Links 16/10/2025: Lies Euphemised as ‘Dueling Versions of Reality’ and Microsoft "Open" "Hey Hi" Resorts to Porn as No Business Model Was Found
Links for the day
The Local Staff Committee Munich (Representation of the EPO's Staff) Explains When Cluster of Pregnancies May Result in Reduced Pay
"...even one week of part-time working is sufficient to reduce the salary you perceive during the entirety of your maternity leave."
Another Black Eye for 'Secure Boot', Microsoft Media Tries to Blame "Linux"
It enables Microsoft to remotely control computers, even computers that don't run Windows and never had any Microsoft software installed
Slopwatch: UbuntuPIT, linuxsecurity.com, and Various Slopfarms in Google News Attacking "Linux"
A new survey of the Web said that the majority of the Web is now slop (that's being said in the news this week)
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 15, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Links 16/10/2025: Increased Use of Social Control Media Surveillance in US, French Rage Over Pensions
Links for the day