Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft's Copyrights- and Patents-Based Attacks on GNU/Linux Carry on

"Microsoft hardly needs an SCO source license. Its license payment to SCO is simply a good-looking way to pass along a bribe..."

--Bruce Perens



Summary: The SCO case is still going on and Microsoft has just signed a patent deal with GoPro over its FOSS-based software, relating to “certain file storage and other system technologies”

THE 'new' Microsoft is not new. It's the same old Microsoft -- the company that committed crimes to get where it is today. The SCO case makes a return to some headlines, not just in FOSS sites but also in general (but technology-centric) news sites. Groklaw is still uploading new documents [PDF] and FOSS Force wrote: "Judge David Nuffer with the US District Court in Utah gave SCO another day in court last week and returned a judgement against the bankrupt company."



"It's the same old Microsoft -- the company that committed crimes to get where it is today."The Register wrote: "The SCO Group has suffered another reversal in its long-running attempt to squeeze some cash out of IBM for allegedly pinching its code and tossing it into Linux and maybe AIX too."

Remember that this is a Microsoft-funded (in least in part) attack on Linux. It's over a decade old. It's nearly 13 years in the making. As Larry Goldfarb from BayStar, a key investor in SCO, once put it: "Microsoft wished to promote SCO and its pending lawsuit against IBM and the Linux operating system. But Microsoft did not want to be seen as attacking IBM or Linux."

Yes, Microsoft loves to hide between or behind proxies, otherwise it might jeopardise the lie which is "Microsoft loves Linux." It might make it harder for Microsoft to seduce fools into Azure for GNU/Linux hosting.

When it comes to patents too, there are Microsoft-connected FRAND lobbyists, as we last noted yesterday, on the same day that WIPR wrote: "Companies that own standard-essential patents (SEPs) must stick to their obligation of licensing them on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms, the EU commissioner for competition has said."

"It might make it harder for Microsoft to seduce fools into Azure for GNU/Linux hosting."The commissioner ought to have mentioned the problems that SEPs FRAND in its own right poses. It's incompatible with Free/Open Source software (FOSS), and not by accident. There are standard-essential patents where interoperability between file systems is required. See the Samba case (in Europe, where Microsoft fought for file sharing monopoly) and then recall the Microsoft v. TomTom case, where Microsoft fought for a software patents tax in Europe (where such patents are not even legal), impacting Linux itself. FRAND is a vehicle for pushing software patents into Europe and Microsoft loves FRAND for this reason. Remember when Microsoft did this kind of FRAND lobbying with the BSA.

Right now, after Alice, Microsoft is still utilising software patents in an effort to tax everything, exploiting its monopoly to make the tax inescapable. The 'new' Microsoft is extorting Android and Linux using software patents on file systems, still (probably exFAT if not FAT also, as per the TomTom case). This new article from WIPR states: "Microsoft has signed a patent licensing deal with action camera maker GoPro.

"According to statement from Microsoft on Friday, February 5, the agreement covers “certain file storage and other system technologies”.

"And some people honestly believe that Microsoft has changed...""The terms of the deal, in which Microsoft is the licensor, have been kept confidential.

GoPro, based on its own Web site, uses a lot of FOSS, Linux included (and Android is a key target platform). So what we see here is Microsoft engaging in patent extortion against FOSS, yet again.

And some people honestly believe that Microsoft has changed...

Recent Techrights' Posts

RMS 'Inauguration' in Montpellier (Government Administration) on January 20th
Happy hacking
Even Technical Articles and HowTos From UNIXMen Nowadays Seem to be LLM Slop
We've just permanently removed the RSS feed of UNIXMen
The FSF's 2024 End-of-Year Fundraiser Succeeds: Over $400k to Support Software Freedom
That's worth bringing up again because the SFC is trying to 'crash' this achievement of the FSF
[Meme] Fentanylware (TikTok) Banned in the United States, Next Up European Union (EU)
And the United Kingdom (UK)
President Biden is Right, "Free Press is Crumbling" and the United States Exports Its Media-Hostile Culture to Other Continents
perhaps Biden should pay closer attention to how Donald Trump-inspired Americans take their battles to other continents
Guardian Digital, Inc (linuxsecurity.com) Uses Microsoft-Controlled Front Groups and LLM Slop in Order to Spread Microsoft-Directed Anti-Linux FUD
Microsoft garbage likely produced by Microsoft LLMs, spewing out Microsoft FUD
 
Slopwatch: Too Lazy to Write Real Articles, Offloading to Chatbots Instead (LLM Slop About "Linux")
The Web was already full of garbage before the LLM frenzy. Now it's even worse.
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, January 17, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, January 17, 2025
Links 17/01/2025: TikTok Banned by the United Stated (SCOTUS Rejects Appeal)
Links for the day
Software Freedom Conservancy Inc (SFC) Makes It Obvious It's Just a Copycat Trying to Exploit or Leech Off the FSF's (and GNU's) Work
They swim next to the rich people (who "match")
Links 17/01/2025: Fentanylware (TikTok) Herds Its (Drug) Users Into Even More Harmful "Apps"
Links for the day
Likely Fake 'Article' About Linux Mint 22.1
BetaNews fired up its plagiarism machine (LLM)
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, January 16, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, January 16, 2025
Links 16/01/2025: Conflicts, Overpopulation, and Software Patents
Links for the day
[Meme] Lock-down With DRM Server/s (in a Nutshell)
Companies like Microsoft and Apple have a 'God complex'
Thank You, London! There Was No Way to Still Reliably Host Gemini From Home (on a Raspberry Pi 4) Due to Scale
The only regret we've long had is that we hadn't made the move earlier
The Summit of Future (Kerala, 2025): Dr. Richard Stallman (RMS) to Give Keynote Talk
promotional video was uploaded
Richard Stallman's Talk This Coming Monday (European 'Tour')
bunch of talks in Europe
Total Lock-down Ambitions - Part II - Down to the Very Core, Including the Hardware (CPU, GPU, Peripherals, and More)
instead of distinguishing themselves and antagonising these broadly reviled "antifeatures", both Canonical and IBM decided to join Microsoft in advocating lockdown
FSF, Guardian of the GNU Project, to Reach $400,000 in Winter Fundraiser Ahead of 40th Anniversary
The GNU Project Turns 42 later this year
Links 16/01/2025: "Meduza, IRL" and the Clock is Ticking on TikTok in the US
Links for the day
Gemini Links 16/01/2025: Yesterday's Gone, The Hour of the Dragon by Robert E Howard
Links for the day
Computer Users Aren't Zoo Animals
Animals don't belong inside cages in zoos, either
Links 16/01/2025: Scale and Scope of Microsoft Layoffs Revealed (Two Waves of Layoffs in 2025 Already)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 16/01/2025: Meta Has a Pixelfed Problem and Space Time Scoping
Links for the day
Anti-Linux 'Articles' in linuxsecurity.com (Guardian Digital, Inc) Are Composed by Bots, Probably Microsoft's
linuxsecurity.com has become a mindless stream of LLM slop
"New Year, New Career"
published a few hours ago
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, January 15, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, January 15, 2025