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The warning sound of TomTom
,----[ Quote ]
| But those were the days when Bill Gates could say that software patents had
| the potential to put the industry at "a complete standstill" and with good
| reason. If the sort of protection Microsoft now claims for itself had been
| available to CP/M then, Microsoft would never have created its monopoly, nor
| amassed a fraction of its power.
|
| Now it has, the rules have changed. Microsoft is perfectly happy, while
| proclaiming openness and interoperability, to find a company in dire
| financial straits and then threaten it with expensive legal action over what
| any self-respecting programmer would identify as a hackish kludge--something
| that advances the art of computer software not one bit.
`----
http://www.zdnetasia.com/insight/software/0,39044822,62052404,00.htm
The Eco-Patent Commons has momentum
,----[ Quote ]
| The Eco-Patent Commons was launched in January 2008 with the participation of
| Nokia, Pitney Bowes, and Sony, in addition to IBM.
|
| Later Bosh, Dupont, and Xerox joined, and today WBCSD announced that Ricoh
| and Taisei joined the commons and Dupont contributed more patents.
`----
http://lehors.wordpress.com/2009/03/23/the-eco-patent-commons-has-momentum/
Recent:
TomTom countersues Microsoft in patent dispute
,----[ Quote ]
| TomTom has responded to Microsoft's patent suit by filing a patent claim of
| its own against the software maker.
|
| The GPS device maker, based in the Netherlands, filed the countersuit in the
| U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Thursday.
`----
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10200526-75.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
TomTom Linux impact light hit so far
,----[ Quote ]
| I don’t necessarily see the same effect from the TomTom suit since, at least
| publicly, Microsoft is not making the case that it is Linux on the line. I
| can report that there does not seem to be any slowdown or hesitation in the
| embrace of Linux for embedded devices. Perhaps that is the reason that
| Microsoft has chosen to play down any implications for Linux and open source,
| rather than puff them up as it has done in the past. If Microsoft or anyone
| else challenges the IP integrity of the Linux OS, it is likely to reinforce
| the idea that the open source software is legitimate, licensed, covered by
| copyright, and absolutely appropriate for enterprise, embedded and other
| commercial uses, at least that’s what history tells us.
`----
http://blogs.the451group.com/opensource/2009/03/12/tomtom-linux-impact-light-hit-so-far/
Experts: Microsoft's FAT licensing terms might violate GPL
,----[ Quote ]
| Under the original FAT licensing program, pricing was US$0.25 per unit with a
| cap on total royalties of $250,000 per manufacturer, according to what had
| been posted on Microsoft’s website from 2003 to July 2006. A Microsoft
| spokesperson could not explain why they were removed or whether those terms
| were applicable to the 18 agreements outlined in the lawsuit.
`----
http://www.sdtimes.com/EXPERTS_MICROSOFT_S_FAT_LICENSING_TERMS_MIGHT_VIOLATE_GPL/About_MICROSOFT_and_OPENSOURCE_and_TOMTOM/33327
Microsoft sues TomTom over FAT patents
,----[ Quote ]
| The underlying strategy is very obvious: Make those patent licenses high
| enough to reduce the cost advantage of a Linux based OS over Windows CE and
| thereby demotivate companies from using Linux in the embedded world.
|
| This has so far happened behind closed doors, but if you google you can find
| a couple of strange press releases of Asian companies buying into those MS
| patent deals for Linux.
|
| [...]
|
| I myself, as well as numerous other people in the Free and Open Source world
| are asking themselves how this legal action fits into the
| Microsoft-proclaimed Free Software friendly strategy. As you can see now,
| that was nothing but vapor.
`----
http://laforge.gnumonks.org/weblog/2009/02/27/#20090227-microsoft_patent_lawsuit
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