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Microsoft Taking Heat For Patent Stance
Yesterday Novell released a statement disavowing Steve Ballmer's claim that Linux infringes Microsoft's IP. Linux-watch.com reports that Microsoft quickly responded with a statement of its own that softened, but did not entirely back away from, Ballmer's claim (but the article offers no link to such a statement).
xtaski writes, "Everyone took notice when Ballmer spewed forth FUD about Microsoft and Linux IP. Now CIOs are asking just what did Ballmer think he was doing? They are not fooled — but rather, a little angry. ComputerWorld covers the news including one CIO who says 'There were some applications I had been thinking about moving to a Microsoft platform, but this has now totally alienated me from Microsoft.'"
And an anonymous reader points us to the statement by the Open Invention Network — whose investors include IBM, Novell, Sony, Red Hat, Philips and NEC — on the Microsoft-Novell agreement. From the statement: "OIN continues to support the Linux community's ability to collaborate and innovate. Through the accumulation of patents that may be used to shield the Linux environment, including users of Linux software, OIN has obviated the need for offers of protection from others."
Microsoft is now so rich that they are trying to get rid of their money by trying (and soon enough failing) to sue linux.
When Linux started throwing chairs around the office like a spoiled child denied, then it crossed the patent line! Balmer is not amused!
-- Prepared at the direction of, or to be sent to Legal Counsel, in anticipation of litigation. Attorney Client Pri
``Kinda reminds me of communist Russia and their fences and guns keeping their people from leaving the country.''
In SOVIET RUSSIA, coutry abandons YOU!
Sorry, couldn't resist.
Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
Keep your matches away when he talks.
---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
i would think its more of a burn to ash kind of thing like when Blade runs his sword through a vampire (or any of his other silver weapons)
Any person using FTFY or editing my postings agrees to a US$50.00 charge
Bill Gates. Oh wait, he was the college drop out...
meh
It looks like Microsoft is infringing on their "using bogus lawsuit threats to spread FUD" patent.
While all my knowledge of balmer is superficial, he just scares me.
Well, he is the only CEO of a major company who is also a potty-mouthed chair-throwing monkey dancer who threatens to kill his business opponents.
Other than that, he might be mostly harmless.
On a more serious vein: isn't it about time for the Microsoft Corporation to evaluate whether their current CEO might be a hindrance to continued profitability, rather than some kind of weird unmeasurable asset?
It's time to fight FUD with FUD.
According to the Vista EULA, if you develop code on the Vista platform, MS can claim IP rights to that code.
Is that true?
Dunno... It's just what some lawyer friend told me...
i am just wondering but say this situation turns up:
a company holds a patent on an invention. due to the nature of the patent (all encompassing or nearly so) there is no possible clone/alternative etc. meaning that now the company holding the patent is the sole provider of that invention/service/etc
how does that tie in with the antimonopoly laws of the world?
me bad. how does that tie in with the antimonopoly laws of the united states? inventor of the patent
_ In Egypt Networks: Network Solutions with a Twist
As I read this article I wondered WTF? What do Microsoft patent claims have to do with Novell? Does Novell own Linux now or something? Being largely ignorant of the business aspects of the Linux world, I went to Linux.com looking for news and found this reassuring statement:
Who Owns Linux?
Linux is not owned by anyone. One misconception many first-time Linux.com readers have is that this site, Linux.com, is similar to Microsoft.com, which is owned and controlled by the company that produces the Windows operating system.
Not so!
No one company or individual "owns" Linux, which was developed, and is still being improved, by thousands of corporate-supported and volunteer programmers all over the world. Not even Linus Torvalds, who started the Linux ball rolling in 1991, "owns" Linux.
(However, the trademark "Linux" is owned by Linus Torvalds, so if you call something "Linux" it had better be Linux, not something else.)
I still don't understand why Novell and Microsoft are swapping millions of dollars back and forth and how it relates to Ballmer's IP claims, but as long as apt-get doesn't start asking me for license codes I'm happy.
Kinda reminds me of Soviet Russia, where software patents infringe YOU!!!
i dont get it. are you saying java is nice or that you don't like anal sex?