Comcast, Microsoft team up to serve smaller firms
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft's move to offer the online software suite appears designed to
| compete with a similar offering from rival Google Inc (GOOG.O: Quote,
| Profile, Research) known as Google Apps.
`----
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUKN1361814420071114?rpc=44
Don't small business complain that Microsoft tries to eliminate them? That was
in the news some weeks ago. How about Microsoft ignoring their existence in
patent debates?
Related:
Big businesses boast of patent benefits, for small businesses
,----[ Quote ]
| A report published by an EU task force on intellectual property claims
| that small businesses benefit from a patent system, despite lacking
| almost any participation by the small business community.
|
| Instead, the report, titled IPR (intellectual property rights) for
| competitiveness and innovation, was written up almost entirely by
| large corporations and the patent industry.
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|
| [...]
|
| The report does note objections from the likes of patentfrei.de and
| Sun Microsystems, which were recorded at some length in the report.
| But this does not appear to have impacted the conclusion of the
| report in any way
|
| [...]
|
| Jean-Pierre Laisne, of ObjectWeb, an open source software community,
| said that he found the report useless: participants were told that
| all their contributions would be recorded but at the end only
| those of Business Software Alliance and Microsoft were used.
`---- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/99155/big-businesses-boast-of-patent-benefits-for-small-businesses.html
Microsoft patents are striking again!
,----[ Quote ]
| Beats me. What I can see here, in brief:
|
| * Microsoft patents are striking again. Somehow, they bothered to
| inform the OSS community that FreeType2 is infringing some very
| nice software patents.
|
| * openSUSE guys are morons. Their American boss has signed with
| Microsoft a very nice agreement that confers them patent
| immunity with regards to Microsoft, yet they seem to be unaware
| of that. I can see now why they were defending the agreement:
| they're so stupid that they can't understand what the covenant
| was saying!
|
| * With regards to software patents, America is the worst thing that
| could happen to the humanity. Hitler is dead, Stalin is dead,
| software patents are very much alive. Thank you, America!
`----
http://beranger.org/index.php?article=2787
Commerce Secretary names Schramm to innovation panel
,----[ Quote ]
| He will be part of a lineup that includes the Microsoft Corp. CEO
| Steve Ballmer, 3M CEO George Buckley, UPS Chairman and CEO Michael Eskew,
| IBM CEO Samuel Palmisano and Wal-Mart Stores Vice Chairman John
| Menzer.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/bizj/061206/1386414.html?.v=2
Features: Open-Source Software: Who Needs Intellectual Property?
,----[ Quote ]
| The market for open-source software--uncopyrighted, freely
| reproducible computer programs--is not well understood by economists.
| A central source of surprise is that innovation can thrive in a
| market without traditional intellectual property (IP). But as we
| argued in a 2005 unpublished paper, "Perfectly Competitive Innovation,"
| as a matter of theory there is no reason to believe that monopoly
| power through IP is needed for innovation. The market for
| open-source software is the poster child for this perspective.
|
| First, understand that the market for open-source software is a
| classic example of a competitive market. It is characterized by
| the voluntary renunciation of copyright and patent. Buyers are
| entitled to make their own copies, modified or not, and sell them.
`----
http://www.fee.org/publications/the-freeman/article.asp?aid=6608
Big businesses boast of patent benefits, for small businesses
,----[ Quote ]
| A report published by an EU task force on intellectual property claims
| that small businesses benefit from a patent system, despite lacking
| almost any participation by the small business community.
|
| Instead, the report, titled IPR (intellectual property rights) for
| competitiveness and innovation, was written up almost entirely by
| large corporations and the patent industry.
|
| [...]
|
| The report does note objections from the likes of patentfrei.de and
| Sun Microsystems, which were recorded at some length in the report.
| But this does not appear to have impacted the conclusion of the
| report in any way
|
| [...]
|
| Jean-Pierre Laisne, of ObjectWeb, an open source software community,
| said that he found the report useless: participants were told that
| all their contributions would be recorded but at the end only
| those of Business Software Alliance and Microsoft were used.
`----
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/99155/big-businesses-boast-of-patent-benefits-for-small-businesses.html
,----[ Quote ]
| 'MS are key sponsors of "Voices For Innovation" aimed at MS customers
| and designed to put a positive spin on software patents and enlist people
| to lobby on their behalf.'
`----
http://aralbalkan.com/939
No trust in intellectual property
,----[ Quote ]
| This is why I've argued before that open source is hugely amenable to
| trust. You can see the code. You know exactly what I have before
| you try to engage with me as a partner, customer, or competitor.
| And just because you can see what I have doesn't mean you
| necessarily have the right (or, at least, the right as you would
| prefer to have it) to use that software. Absolute transparency
| while still retaining the ability to profit.
`----
http://weblog.infoworld.com/openresource/archives/2007/02/no_trust_in_int.html
Consumer groups want Comcast fined for thwarting the Bible
,----[ Quote ]
| A number of consumer groups are petitioning the FCC to fine Comcast $195,000
| for every customer affected by their BitTorrent-throttling practices. The FCC
| has said in the past that service providers can't "block" customers from
| using certain applications or websites, but it hasn't enforced that policy.
`----
http://valleywag.com/tech/politics/consumer-groups-want-comcast-fined-for-thwarting-the-bible-317960.php
Comcast reported to FCC
,----[ Quote ]
| P2P throttling breaks FCC 'net neutrality' policy
|
| [...]
|
| Among the consumer groups who have approached the FCC are the Consumer
| Federation of America, the Consumers Union, the Media Access Project and
| professors at the Internet practices of the Yale, Harvard and Stanford law
| schools.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/11/02/comcast-reported-fcc
Comcast's "We Don't Throttle BitTorrent" Internal Talking Points Memo
http://consumerist.com/consumer/leaks/comcasts-we-dont-throttle-bittorrent-internal-talking-points-memo-315791.php
Comcast Isn’t Net Neutral; Are They Liars, Too?
,----[ Quote ]
| Following reports that Comcast isn’t net neutral, Consumerist blog has
| acquired several leaks from Comcast insiders, claiming that they do indeed
| use Sandvine for packet shaping, and that customer service representatives
| are being told nothing about how the network technology works,
`----
http://mashable.com/2007/10/26/comcast-isnt-net-neutral-are-they-liars-too/
Senators want probe of Comcast's BitTorrent 'discrimination'
,----[ Quote ]
| The senators suggested the incidents indicate "Congress should consider
| adopting targeted regulations to protect consumers and ensure a vibrant and
| open communications platform."
`----
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9805308-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Congressman to Comcast: Stop interfering with BitTorrent
,----[ Quote ]
| While a class action lawsuit is definitely one way to get Comcast to behave,
| another perhaps more productive way to do so is to have politicians step in
| and regulate.
|
| On Tuesday, I discussed the issue of Comcast's anti-BitTorrent "network
| management" with Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., who is a strong supporter of
| consumer rights and has led the battle to undo the damage caused by the
| Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA.
`----
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9804158-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
OiNK Down, Norwegian BitTorrent Trackers Next
,----[ Quote ]
| With the BitTorrent world spinning on its heels after the shock takedown of
| the huge OiNK tracker, there are now indications that the shutdowns may
| continue. According to the lawyer who lost against ‘DVD Jon’, next stop is
| Norway and raids are imminent.
`----
http://torrentfreak.com/oink-down-norwegian-bittorrent-trackers-next-071024/
TorrentSpy Traffic Plunges After US Ban
,----[ Quote ]
| The MPAA has caused TorrentSpy, once the most popular BitTorrent site, some
| serious headaches. After a federal judge ordered TorrentSpy to log all user
| data stored in RAM, they decided to block access to US users, consequently
| their traffic dropped significantly.
`----
http://torrentfreak.com/torrentspy-traffic-plunges-after-us-ban-071006/
BitTorrent Admin Monitored by US Government, Forced to Dump Linux
,----[ Quote ]
| Sk0t, an ex-administrator of the EliteTorrents BitTorrent tracker is to have
| his internet connection forcibly monitored by the US Government. If that
| wasn’t bad enough, the monitoring software is Windows based - which means he
| is being forced to ditch Linux - or face being barred from the internet.
`----
http://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-admin-monitored-by-us-government-forced-to-dump-linux/
Is Comcast's BitTorrent filtering violating the law?
,----[ Quote ]
| Assuming that the SYN packet goes through, the three-way handshake is allowed
| to happen, then the two hosts will be able to begin communicating. Your ISP
| can still kill the connection later, should they wish to, merely by blocking
| the transmission of future packets.
|
| According to Torrent Freak, Comcast is not doing this. They are instead
| sending a reset (or RST) packet to the Comcast customer, pretending to be
| from the host at the end of the BitTorrent connection.
`----
http://www.cnet.com/8301-13739_1-9769645-46.html
Comcast Cuts Off Heavy Internet Users
,----[ Quote ]
| Customers complain bandwidth limits are secret.
`----
http://consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/08/comcast_ban.html?imw=Y
Torrentspy Disables Searching For US IPs
,----[ Quote
| Torrent indexing site Torrentspy.com appears to have disabled torrent
| searches for IPs that originate in the United States.
`----
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/27/1541244&from=rss
Comcast Throttles BitTorrent Traffic, Seeding Impossible
,----[ Quote ]
| Over the past weeks more and more Comcast users started to notice that their
| BitTorrent transfers were cut off. Most users report a significant decrease
| in download speeds, and even worse, they are unable to seed their downloads.
| A nightmare for people who want to keep up a positive ratio at private
| trackers and for the speed of BitTorrent transfers in general.
|
| [...]
|
| Last year we had a discussion whether traffic shaping is good or bad, and
| ISPs made it pretty clear that they do not like P2P applications like
| BitTorrent. One of the ISPs that joined our discussions said: “The fact is,
| P2P is (from my point of view) a plague - a cancer, that will consume all the
| bandwidth that I can provide. It’s an insatiable appetite.”, and another one
| stated: “P2P applications can cripple a network, they’re like leaches. Just
| because you pay 49.99 for a 1.5-3.0mbps connection doesn’t mean your entitled
| to use whatever protocols you wish on your ISP’s network without them
| provisioning it to make the network experience good for all users involved.”
`----
http://torrentfreak.com/comcast-throttles-bittorrent-traffic-seeding-impossible/
|
|
