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First, we kill all the patent lawyers
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| Actually, I don't think we should kill all
| the patent lawyers. Some of my best friends
| are patent attorneys -- no, really. But I'd
| happily stick a knife into the American
| patent system.
|
| In the beginning, the U.S. patent system
| was meant to encourage inventors and
| innovation. Abraham Lincoln is reputed to
| have said, "The Patent System added the
| fuel of interest to the fire of genius."
| That was then. This is now.
|
| Today, unless the Supreme Court does the
| right thing and tosses out business
| practice and, by implication, software
| patents with the proper decision in the
| Bilski case, we're stuck with a system
| designed to wreck anyone who actually tries
| to implement his own ideas.
|
| You see, with many software patents there
| is no specific language, no hard code, but
| only descriptions of general processes that
| can be implemented in multiple ways. Now,
| you might think you could avoid patent
| trouble by looking up the appropriate
| patents and not using them. Good luck with
| that.
|
| [...]
|
| This is why Microsoft, despite being the
| loser in some whopping patent lawsuits,
| such as the $200 million-plus it owes i4i
| for violating its patents and the $1.5
| billion it once owed Alcatel-Lucent, is
| happy to threaten other companies,
| especially those that use Linux or open-
| source software, such as Amazon and TomTom
| into licensing agreements.
`----
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9176257/First_we_kill_all_the_patent_lawyers
Isn't It Strange That Microsoft Only Singles Out *Linux* As "Infringing On Its Patents"?
,----[ Quote ]
| Good ol' Roy Schestowitz continues the
| quest for truth over at a new site,
| techrights.org. And while pursuing the
| latest scoop on Microsoft's continued
| puppetry of the media, a lightning bolt
| suddenly hit me. So even though I retired
| from direct Linux activism, I'll visit this
| one time since I've had an idea which I
| don't see anyone else raising:
|
| Funny how it's always Linux which Microsoft
| is alleging is infringing on Microsoft's
| patent portfolio, isn't it? Not FreeBSD,
| not OpenBSD, not NetBSD, not Solaris (open
| or closed), not Plan Nine From Bell Labs,
| not ReactOS, not Minix, not GNU-HURD, not
| any of the flavors of proprietary Unix.
`----
http://penguinpetes.com/b2evo/index.php?title=isn_t_it_strange_that_microsoft_only_sin&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
Microsoft IP Tax Makes Its Way to Linux-based Gadgets
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| Thereâs a disturbance in the gadget force
| everyone. You probably arenât aware of it
| because most you are Mac or Windows users,
| but those whoâve been using Linux on the
| desktop or on servers have known for some
| time that Microsoft has been bullying Linux
| software vendors with threats of lawsuits
| for infringing on their intellectual
| property (IP). Remedy: sign our âpatent
| agreementâ and share your technology in
| exchange for immunity.
|
| Microsoft claims that most parts of what
| makes up the GNU/Linux OS infringes on
| Microsoftâs closed-source patent war-chest.
| To put it in simple terms, they claim that
| they came up with X process or X
| functionality first and they have a patent
| on that feature. Iâm not a IP or patent
| lawyer, so I canât get into specifics, but
| I can tell you that the Free Open Source
| Software (FOSS) movement prides itself on
| being open and sharing code with others to
| be used how one sees fit. And, if you make
| an improvement, to share that improvement
| back with the community. FOSS developers
| like to look at a proprietary app and say,
| we can make thatâ and not only can we make
| it, weâll make it better through the
| inspection of thousands of users who will
| voluntarily test the code, kill bugs,
| improve upon the feature-set, and so on and
| so on.
`----
http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/2010/04/30/microsoft-ip-tax-makes-its-way-to-linux-based-gadgets/
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