Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft is Complaining About Android and Chrome OS (GNU/Linux) Vendor Not Paying for Microsoft Patents (Updated)

"Microsoft Loves Linux" is a joke

Xiaomi patent settlement



Summary: Microsoft, which nowadays does the patent shakedown against GNU/Linux by proxy, is still moaning about companies that don't pay 'protection' money (grounds for antitrust action or racketeering investigation)

"Foxconn failed to report Android dues for years, Microsoft tells court" (so says the Microsoft-connected IAM behind an aggressive/stubborn paywall).



So apparently, months after the OIN charm offensive (OIN has former patent trolls in charge), Microsoft still engages in the sort of patent blackmail it reportedly made like 10 billion dollars from. Those are patents leveraged against Linux. "Deal was hailed as a coup for Microsoft’s Android efforts in 2013, but a lawsuit filed Friday suggests the Redmond-based business has made little to nothing on it since 2015," says the text we're able to see (tweet adds more). "A lawsuit filed by Microsoft reveals years-long royalty dispute with Foxconn, adding context to its recent move out of Android licensing space..."

RacketWhen Microsoft says it "loves Linux" it means to say Microsoft loves Windows, but nowadays Microsoft calls Windows "Linux". See this report from yesterday; it's all about leveraging Linux (or Android) to spread Windows. How is that love of Linux? Microsoft is so madly in love with Linux that it makes it easier to replace it and then delete it. Is that love?

SJVN responded as though he's a lawyer for Microsoft, calling the blackmailed company "toxic" and providing no further details: "The MSFT Foxconn lawsuit has little to do with Linux and a lot to do with a toxic company and it's not MSFT for once. Google "Foxconn legal issues" and "Foxconn Wisconsin" to start down the rabbit hole."

But this isn't what the lawsuit is about. Wisconsin is a political stunt that happened years later. It's a Trump stunt. So basically SJVN's logic goes something along the lines of, Foxconn is bad, therefore Microsoft is OK.

This is about the ""Android and Chrome Devices" 2013 deal," as Benjamin Henrion called it, adding that "Microsoft spinners will probably tell it is not about "Android and Chromebooks"."

Update: There's now this news report from Reuters (and no paywall this time around). To quote some confirmatory details:

Microsoft filed the complaint against Foxconn subsidiary FIH Mobile Ltd in the Northern District of California on Friday. It is claiming unpaid royalties for patents used in devices for clients including a top Chinese smartphone vendor.

Foxconn founder and Chief Executive Terry Gou told an impromptu news conference in Taipei that “patent infringement” is not an issue for his company, which “will suffer almost no any loss” as a result of the lawsuit.

Foxconn “has never paid any patent fees to Microsoft,” Gou said.

FIH could not immediately be reached for comment. In a statement, Microsoft said the legal action was related to the royalty reporting and audit terms of a contract it signed with Foxconn parent Hon Hai in 2013.


So Microsoft's blackmail carries on, but IAM won’t call it that because Microsoft sponsors IAM. IAM is connected to Microsoft in so many ways that we have lost track and count (we wrote about it over the years). Their Web site runs Windows, some articles are from former Microsoft executives, Microsoft gives IAM money and so on. Money buys patent-centric media.

Henrion has just added: "The evil Microsoft taxing Linux with Android and Chromebooks over Foxconn lititation [sic] is back https://www.cnet.com/news/microsoft-sues-manufacturing-giant-foxconn-over-patents/ … The royalties are over this 2013 deal covering "Android and Chrome Devices"..."

This links to another new article that says "Microsoft on Friday sued the Taiwan-based manufacturing behemoth Hon Hai Precision Industry, also known as Foxconn Technology Group, for unpaid patent royalties and failing to file appropriate paperwork."

IAM wrote about it again: "Foxconn confirms it has never paid Microsoft patent royalties under 2013 licence."

Why should it if Microsoft now "loves Linux" and has joined OIN? Maybe because nothing has really changed. Microsoft just wants buckets of money for other people's work.

Recent Techrights' Posts

New Article Explains How the GPL Came About and WordPress Having Copyleft Obligations
Having been involved in the WordPress development community since almost the beginning, I know why it chose the GPL and how it restricts abuse by Automattic
Dr Richard Stallman (RMS) Gives Talk in Oxford University in 4 Hours
If you live nearby, go there (it's free as in gratis)
Using a Law Firm's Licence to Exercise Politics Through Frivolous SLAPPs and Nastygrams (to Silence People, Remove Pages, Demand Fake or Forced 'Apologies')
Things must be getting really bad when lawyers act for raving antisemites
Another Site Bites the Dust: "Open Source For You" Becoming a Slopfarm (LLM Slop)
What a shame. Another dead site.
 
Richard Stallman's Oxford Talk Has Just Ended, Here Are Some Photos
he might hop over to another European country
Gemini Links 24/04/2025: Birthday and Good Work of Academia in Esotericism
Links for the day
Links 24/04/2025: EU fines Apple and Facebook, Another Microsoft GitHub Security Blunder
Links for the day
IBM Gained Almost 6 Billion Dollars in "Goodwill" Value in Just 3 Months, According to IBM
Congrats to the management!
In Belarus, Yandex is Now Measured as 50 Times More 'Popular' (by Usage) Than Microsoft
Yandex continues to gain, whereas Bing cannot even register at 1%. Last month it was registered or measured at a measly 0.65%.
IBM Cannot Lie to Shareholders Anymore
"I would not be surprised if we see a layoff every quarter this year."
We're Working to Make Full-Site Search Available
This site has over 1,000 'wiki' pages, many thousands of documents, several thousands of videos, and about 50,000 blog posts or articles. We need to make them easier to find/navigate.
Links 24/04/2025: IBM Loses Many Contracts, Intel to Lay Off Over 20% (Not Counting Those Who Leave 'Voluntarily')
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Can Explain to Oxford Artificial Intelligence Society Why LLM Slop is Not Artificial Intelligence and Why It Hurts Society
another 'crop' of LLM slop that damages GNU/Linux and facts
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 23, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Promoting Microsoft and Proprietary Software Using Microsoft Operatives
Because nothing says "Open Source" like GPL violations facilitated by Microsoft
Links 23/04/2025: Crackdowns on Dissent, Palin Loses Libel Retrial Against New York Times
Links for the day
Links 23/04/2025: Hard Times and Digital Amnesia
Links for the day
The GNU/Linux Site Formerly Known as "linoxide.com" is Back... as an LLM Slopfarm!
Better for linoxide.com to go offline than to do this
Get Rid of Back Doors, Don't Obsess Over Bounties and Other Corporate PR Stunts (or Needless Reboot Rituals)
Security as a term has mostly lost its meaning due to repeated misuse for many years
Richard Stallman to Speak in Oxford University Exactly a Day From Now
outsourced to GAFAM
Links 23/04/2025: "Hiding Corruption" and "The Cost of Defunding Harvard"
Links for the day
Microsoft 'Studies' Again? Leon Musolff is Writing Papers With Microsoft.
Even if one can see/find a link to "the study" (in the Bezos-controlled publication), most people won't look any further and just take everything at face value.
Towards GNU World Domination
The FSF led by Geoffrey S. Knauth with his friend Richard Stallman in the FSF's Board [...] Let's encourage people to adopt GNU/Linux. There has never been a better time.
statCounter Helps Visualise Just How Deep in Trouble Microsoft is (Especially in Africa)
Microsoft sabotaged efforts to connect Africans and equip them with GNU/Linux laptops
The Register is Using Linux-Hostile Clickbait in Articles of Linux Proponents
Don't be a "whore" to advertisers, team El Reg
Microsoft Windows in Cyprus Lacking a Future
Most people access the Web there from mobile
Matrix Has a Severe Problem With Illegal Images
If Matrix cannot get the CP problem under control, many projects and people will dump Matrix
Never Try to Justify Strangulation of Women (Not in the US and Not in the UK)
Joint post by Mrs. Rianne Schestowitz and Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Links 23/04/2025: Tesla Profits Plunge 71%, Intel Ready to Lay Off 20% of Staff, Microsoft and IBM Layoffs
Links for the day
Microsoft's Most Profound Issue is That People Moved to 'Mobile' and "App Stores" (Microsoft's Presence There is Negligible)
Expect a wild ride for Microsoft this year
Google News is Amplifying FUD and Lies About Linux (and OpenSSH/SSH) by Promoting Slopfarms With Machine-Generated FUD and Slop Images
Google should know better
Gemini Links 23/04/2025: Librarians, Anubis, and Refactoring a Gemini Capsule
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 22, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Links 22/04/2025: Ending DEI Policies at Adobe, FTC Sues Uber
Links for the day
RMS is Done at KCL, Next Stop is Oxford
The message of RMS has long resonated well in India
US Government Already Bailing Out OpenAI/Microsoft With "Contracts", As Usual, Back Doors You Cannot Remove Becoming 'a Step Closer' on New PCs (Unless Everyone Acts ASAP)
The next "logical" step towards digital prisons
Microsoft Devises PR Stunts to Distract From Impending Mass Layoffs and Likely Bad Results Preceding Those Mass Layoffs
A "voluntary exit plan"
Gemini Links 22/04/2025: Deaths, HamsterCMS, and More
Links for the day
Links 22/04/2025: FTC v. Meta Trial and Google Remedies
Links for the day
In Turkey, Windows Down Rapidly While GNU/Linux Grows
Although Turkey is in NATO (but not the EU), it cannot quite trust computer systems controlled by the United States
GNOME, Microsoft, and GitHub: The Lack of Reporting on Abusive Colleagues Contributed to Profound Media Vacuum (or Blackout), Now Resorting to SLAPPs
This lack of morality/courage has helped enable further abuse, lining up more victims
Richard Stallman Has Updated His Article on Why "Free Software Is Even More Important Now"
Richard Stallman is about to give a talk here in the UK in a few hours
Microsoft Already Attacks the BSDs as Well (the E.E.E. Way, as Usual)
Bearers of bad news
The Open Source Initiative (OSI) is in Trouble, May Soon be Out of Business
Openwashing needs to end
Microsoft's Debt Grew Over 6 Billion Dollars in the Last Reporting Quarter (Before Inauguration), Expect Worse Next Week When 'Results' Are Disclosed and Mass Layoffs Resume
Microsoft is bleeding. It does not want people to notice.
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, April 21, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, April 21, 2025
Richard Stallman Gives Public Talk in London in 7 Hours (Need to Register as Venue Limited to 150 Seats), Public Announcements Begin to Appear
These are not announced weeks or months in advance