Bonum Certa Men Certa

Lobbyists for Software Patents in 'Journalism' and 'Reform' Clothing (With Microsoft Connections)

One big happy family with lots of money in circulation and pro-software patents agenda

David Kappos PAI



Summary: The latest examples of unequivocal pushes for software patents, under the guise of 'reporting' (poor-shaming) or patent 'reform' (nothing to do with reform), courtesy of IAM 'magazine' and David Kappos, respectively

PATENT quality at the David Kappos-led USPTO has been poor and declining. This was apparently the goal, or an obvious (predictable) consequence of the strategy. It leaves the United States in a state of total mess, where a lot of startups are forced to cough out 'protection money' or go out of business. Not only patent trolls are causing this havoc but also large patent aggressors, such as Microsoft and IBM. Imagine what this kind of mess would mean to India, where a lot of software is being developed and the budget of local firms is relatively tight (hiring lawyers in another country is extremely expensive).



"Not only patent trolls are causing this havoc but also large patent aggressors, such as Microsoft and IBM."Taking stock of the latest propaganda from IAM 'magazine', Techrights cannot help but berate and ridicule this so-called 'magazine' (more like a lobbying pamphlet). It's not even a magazine, it's Kool-Aid in paper form and a paywalled Web site (to keep only the choir in the know, no dissenting voices allowed). Here is today's IAM brainwash about US patent 'quality' (the number of granted patents doubling in just a few years is evidently an indication of declining quality) and even worse brainwash that misrepresents the views of Indians, composed by an Anglo-Saxon who is employed to write such tripe. No Indian is even quoted in this article, except a law firm (obviously no bias there!).

Even after Alice, which challenges software patents in their home country, IAM continues to bat for software patents. IAM is London-based, which makes it even more outrageous, until one checks where IAM's funds actually come from...

"Techrights cannot help but berate and ridicule this so-called ‘magazine’ (more like a lobbying pamphlet). It’s not even a magazine, it’s Kool-Aid in paper form and a paywalled Web site (to keep only the choir in the know, no dissenting voice allowed)."Robert R. Sachs from Bilski Blog (shrewdly named after the famous Bilski case) is preparing a paper (and a series of articles derived from it) about why software patents are just mental processes, hence abstract. In many ways, software patents a major deception, exploiting people's misunderstanding of how software actually works (it's not hard to scam or bamboozle patent judges who never wrote a single line of code).

Earlier today I confronted the editor in chief at IAM, who is a trolls denialist (he still pretends that no such problem exists, just like people who deny human-caused global warning or climate change). This editor and his guys (the only woman there is clerical) are not reporting. They're pushing for software patents in India today, using distortion of facts and outright lies. Shame on IAM for doing this. As I put it earlier today, in response to the editor: "As long as you guys do reputation laundering for patent trolls and software patents while they PAY you, you're fake news. PR."

"They're pushing for software patents in India today, using distortion of facts and outright lies."It's increasingly important to shed light on what IAM really is and who's funding it (and what for).

As I put it earlier today, IAM "continues to demonstrate that it's not a real newspaper/magazine but just paid lobbying pretending to be reporting. Disgusting."

IAM is full of patent maximalists (look at the authors' background) who want more patents in more places, more domains, more companies, and so on. IAM is funded by those interests. What does that say about IAM? It's like a magazine about energy which is funded by oil and coal companies, in order to suppress any coverage of alternative forms of energy. Bias by omission at the very least. This villainous, trolls- and EPO-connected IAM 'magazine' now shames India over India's very tactful decision to block software patents, in the same way it repeatedly shamed Germany for not doing enough (much to the editor's displeasure) to openly promote UPC, which incidentally IAM got paid to promote (even by the EPO's PR firm). It doesn't take a genius to see what's going on here, who pays, and cui bono etc. IAM dedicated their latest issue to the world's largest patent troll [EN|ES] -- an issue which apparently included this article, whose whole premise (and headline) is a big lie. The title says "India’s tough new line on software patents could hamper plans for boosting its digital start-ups" (no kidding!).

"It's increasingly important to shed light on what IAM really is and who's funding it (and what for)."In reality, the very opposite is true as software patents would hamper India's plans for boosting its digital start-ups. Ask these start-ups and they will say so. Ask Microsoft or IBM (or their patent lawyers in India) and they will say 'on behalf' of these start-ups just a bunch of lies. Ask lobbyists of big companies and patent lawyers (like those that pay IAM) and they too will tell lots of lies. It's the same scenario we saw in New Zealand and in Europe, where Microsoft even pays lobbyists to pretend to represent small businesses and actually say the very opposite of what European SMEs think and believe in. IAM now demonstrates that it's no better than these lobbyists. The difference is the way they publicly characterise themselves.

Indian startups need code, not patents, which are priced out of reach anyway, never mind cost of litigation. IAM wrote: "It seems to me that this could cause some big problems for the digital start-ups that the government is so keen to support. Many of them will have computer-related innovations at the heart of their business models; if it becomes much more difficult for them to obtain patent protection on these, then the reasons for them to consider relocating outside of India could well become even more compelling."

"Indian startups need code, not patents, which are priced out of reach anyway, never mind cost of litigation."This is nonsense. Where is the evidence that without software patents those start-ups would move out of India and given that the software market is an international market (definitely not local), what difference would relocation make anyway? It might make a difference for multinational corporations such as IBM or Microsoft, no doubt about that...

Speaking of Microsoft, last night we discovered (not too shockingly) that Microsoft is putting money on Debian's table (conference). It becomes -- gasp -- a sponsor. Yes, it's E.E.E., but does Debian understand that? As we noted some days ago and last weekend, Microsoft still sponsors patent maximalism conferences (with Microsoft-funded lobbyists who promote software patents), wherein it can further influence the EPO (its partner in crime, so to speak) and European politicians. Can Microsoft be trusted at all while it's extorting and blackmailing Debian-based device manufacturers using software patents? That's a rhetorical question.

"Can Microsoft be trusted at all while it's extorting and blackmailing Debian-based device manufacturers using software patents?"Incidentally, having mentioned David Kappos earlier, he too is now acting more as a lobbyist (official-turned-lobbyist a classic way of turning influence into money), funded by Microsoft and others in order to promote software patents. Remember that Horacio Gutierrez and his Microsoft chums once (or more than once) paid Florian Müller to do the same thing. Here is a recent article which a reader sent to us last night. It neglects to mention the special role of Kappos there. It just says that "Apple is taking a bigger role in pushing for patent reform in the United States by teaming up with IBM, Microsoft, and other companies as part of the Partnership for American Innovation. The organization's goal is to lobby the Federal government to adopt the changes it wants to improve the country's patent system."

No, it wants to promote software patents. When Microsoft says patent "reform" it means software patents lobbying (same for Apple and IBM). They hijack the word reform and their chief lobbyist at PAI is David Kappos himself.

"Microsoft is now in the Kappos-led group that pushes for software patents.""By the way," told us one reader, "we've been wondering here about why Microsoft is so quiet and not attacking FOSS deployments and legislations. We figured that they must be working on something that can do an end-run around both. Digging a bit, it might be that they are confident that TTIP, TISA, and CETA will ban FOSS. There's been no coverage of that to speak of in the mainstream press. In the same digging, I see that I've underestimated the importance of Wikileaks as well as the motives for Microsoft and its government stooges to crush it. As far as I know, TISA or TTIP is also pushing software patents, but I've read almost nothing yet and am about to start."

Microsoft is now in the Kappos-led group that pushes for software patents. as our reader put it, "reform turns out to be one of their weasel words."

The same goes for "loving" Linux. Watch out, Debian. You're already fractured and fragmented due to systemd. Now you let the patent bully enter your events? Will buttons that say "Microsoft loves Linux" be distributed to put people off, as usual? It perfectly fits the latest E.E.E. pattern.

"I’ve killed at least two Mac conferences. [...] by injecting Microsoft content into the conference, the conference got shut down. The guy who ran it said, why am I doing this?"

--Microsoft's chief evangelist



Recent Techrights' Posts

Michael “Monty” Widenius: It Started in 1983 With Richard Stallman (RMS)
The other co-founder of MySQL is a bit notorious for confronting RMS rather viciously
For the Second Time in a Few Weeks Microsoft Lunduke Makes False Accusations Against Senior Red Hat Staff to Incite a Despicable 'Troll Army'
Nothing that Microsoft Lunduke claims of says can be trusted
 
FSF Board Grew 50% Since Last Year, Has New President, Turns 40 in Two Days
It's a good move for the FSF and - by extension - for software freedom
Links 03/10/2025: Conflicts, Death of TypePad, and TikTok/CheeTok Gives a Boost to Far Right Groups in Europe
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 02, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, October 02, 2025
Slopwatch: Linux Journal, Google News, and LinuxSecurity
They carry on polluting the Web with fake articles
Gemini Links 02/10/2025: Kubernetes With FreeBSD and robots.txt
Links for the day
Links 02/10/2025: 'Open' 'AI' Resorting to Gimmicks and Fake Funding, Europe’s ‘Drone Wall’ Discussed
Links for the day
Links 02/10/2025: Brave Passes 100M Users Milestone, Kodak Selling Its Own Film Again
Links for the day
su lisa && rm -rf /home/ibm/power
Novell was ruined by another person from IBM, Ronald Hovsepian
A Record Demand at Microsoft: Demand to Cancel
What we're witnessing is a very ungraceful destruction of XBox
Microsoft is Losing Europe
Hence all the "support" and "discount" offers that are limited to Europe
The Free Software Foundation Starts Fund-raising for 40th Anniversary
New pop-up 2-3 days ahead of the 40th anniversary event
Systemd Breaks Networking in Debian and Microsoft Staff Rushes to Make Face-Saving Excuses in LWN
Microsoft's bluca is already there in the comments, his Microsoft money pays for LWN to let him leave comments early
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 01, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 01, 2025
What the End of XBox Will Look Like: a Fiery Crash
XBox is the next Skype. It won't last much longer. Expect many more layoffs.
Richard Stallman is Going to Finland to Give a Talk Next Thursday
A day later he speaks in Sweden
Gemini Links 02/10/2025: SMTP Pipelining and End of ROOPHLOCH 2025
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Plagiarism, Fake Articles, and FUD About Linux
not a day goes by without Google News feeding FUD from slopfarms
Gemini Links 01/10/2025: Chat Control and End of Life
Links for the day
Links 01/10/2025: Long Covid Risk Reiterated, "Bitcoin Queen" Caught
Links for the day
Links 01/10/2025: EA $55 Billion Deal is Debt and Slop "Raises Vishing Risks"
Links for the day
Bluewashing at Red Hat Means Redundancies
The man who sold Red Hat to IBM meanwhile became a Microsoft Mono booster
After Killing OpenSource.com, IBM ('Red Hat') and OSI Told Us OpenSource.net Would Replace It (But That Didn't Happen)
Now it's time to move on, perhaps tarnishing the "Open Source" label some more (for whatever sponsor wants this)
Linux is Not a Community Project, It's a Wall Street Product
The core goal should be freedom
Bad Actors Abusing the Free Software Community, Vandalising It Using Rogue Politics and Old Tactics
Oil giants have long attempted to do this; now, the digital equivalent of Big Oil does this in technology
Social Control Media Isn't the Future, The Federation or Fediverse Isn't Growing, People's Accounts Vanish for Good
users' accounts will get deleted, not just become inactive
IBM is Failing, This Helps Show Wall Street is Entirely Detached From Actual Commercial Performance
IBM is unable to grow, it's just constantly shrinking
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, September 30, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, September 30, 2025
Clerical Aspects of Publishing and Development
In Free software, the management aspects are considerably reduced
Slopwatch: Fake Articles and Google News Promoting "Linux" Spam or Bot-Generated Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD)
These slopfarms help misplace blame
Third Wave of Microsoft Layoffs in September, This Time Many in Liverpool Affected
Be ready for more waves of layoffs ahead of the so-called "results" in late October