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Mozilla Foundation Sues Microsoft Over Tabbed Browsing
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slashdottit! tm
According to the german tech-site heise.de, the Mozilla Foundation is suing Microsoft over the use of tabbed browsing in Internet Explorer 7. The Mozilla Foundation owns the patent 5,160,296 through one of their developers (Solomon Katz, a former Opera dev) and has begun suing Microsoft in Mountainview, California. The Foundation wants that MS immediately ceases to distribute IE 7 and pays 1.4 Billion dollars in damages. Heise reports that Microsoft has issued no official response, but is contemplating to ship IE 7 NT (no tabs).
I think you've fallen for a hoax.
It doesn't work! I try to Slashdottit and it has no effect. I'm calling shenanigans!
Come on. Come oooooon
I want to see some ponies! pink ones! slashdot is lame.
Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
This is going to have an impact on their Office 12 ribbon tab patents isnt it?
http://www.rense.com/general79/wdx1.htm
Good grief, they'll let you patent ANYTHING won't they?
audioLibre - freedom of music
Damm you, fooled again. Im going to play games all day as surfing online is just going to be "impractical" today for the next 24 timezones. Just when you think its over, bam another site in antoher timezone pulls a prank. ZE PAIN I CANT TAKE ANYMORE:
http://www.rense.com/general79/wdx1.htm
If you want to be corporately evil without the hoards of geekdom realising it, be evil on April the first.
Today is the day when Microsoft could start a hostile takeover of every linux company, and Google could announcetheir new policy of "Hang it, we'll start worshipping satan", without anyone being the wiser.
Don't jump the gun quite yet. It behooves us to see how Mozilla handles filing this claim, suspending judgement until we see whether it's in order or not. I know this might leave you hanging, but it's wiser just to keep tabs (Preferably new, improved non-porous plastic ones) on this affair.
I always thought April 1st is the best day for suing someone :)
May Peace Prevail On Earth
Opera started even years before Firefox with tabbed browsing....
I knew keeping my Netscape shares would pay off one day!
Task Mangler
Yeah i'm talking to you. The wannabe computer programmer who thinks they are good at computers because they can click around the computer enough times and find the reboot button and 'fix' an inherently flawed windows system. You think you're cool because you can pirate photoshop but not know anything about it, get Microsoft Office for free but have the literacy of a 1st grader when writing a paper, and get a copy of Norton Anti-virus because your inherently flawed system is useless without Administrative privileges. Get a clue, you are not smart, you are just a corporate sheep for a company that will bury you if you ever tried to write any software that did anything remotely useful. You are a clickaround and all you know if your ugly gray existence that is Windows.
/dev/random > Windows.com
Want the sourcecode to windows vista?
head -n 1000000
It's no hoax folks.
April Fools' day was moved to April 2nd when the United States adjusted Daylight Savings Time this year.
Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
dunno, apple had ribbons in system 8 or even earlier maybe. And "tabbable" windows (windows dragged down would become tabs) which wasn't a bad idea in days where screen real estate was precious.
---- MISSING MISCELLANEOUS DATA SEGMENT --- [sigdash] trolololol
This post is modded +5, Informative!
qntm.org
I discovered tabbed browsing with Opera. Was Mozilla really the first to implement it?
McCartney fans pay bus tickets. [...] Lennon fans too, with discretion.
Maybe we could get someone to fuck-up and release the source code to IE 7?
Yes, especially as its April 1st, and there is no mention of it on Mozilla's website. I doubt Mozilla would be so stupid anyway. The problem with patents is the sheer MAD ness. We could no doubt discover that some reviewer at the patent office has rubber-stamped MS's request for a patent on base 2 or something like that.
Couldn't agree more
stupid tagging gives it away...
[+] omgponies, aprilfools, court, microsoft, mozilla (tagging beta)
Read the patent - it is about physical files and not computer files! Nice twist to the joke.
See abstract and drawings on Google patents
Andy
Doesnt stop the patent office granting them :)
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/7028023.html
Linked lists have been around for decades and now its only patented in 2006.
I suggest everybody flood the patent office with prior art patents, You will be supprised how many get granted, then you have right to claim money and while you hold that money (dont spend it), earn interest on it then when the patent is revoked, you simply pay the money back :)
But youve made moeny.
Everybody should flood the system until breaking point by doing it. They are, so why dont you do it too. In effect, slashdot it.
http://www.rense.com/general79/wdx1.htm
They're even filing patent lawsuits now! And I thought this post that Firefox was no longer alternative enough to be an "alternative browser" was taking things too far.
"the founders of Opera built an MDI-based browser in the same year (via a technical preview not available publicly; a public release was made in 1996). The tabbed interface approach was then followed by the Internet Explorer shell NetCaptor in 1997. These were followed by a number of others like IBrowse in 1999, Opera in 2000 (with the release of version 4), Mozilla in 2001 (through the MultiZilla extension in April of 2001 and a built-in tabbed browsing mode added to Mozilla 0.9.5 in October of 2001), Konqueror 3.1 in January 2003, and Safari in 2003. As of 2006, most graphical web browsers support a tabbed interface, including Internet Explorer 7. Software, such as the freeware AM Browser, is also available to add a TDI around earlier versions of Internet Explorer. OmniWeb version 5, released August 2004, includes visual tabbed browsing which displays preview images of pages in a drawer to the left or right of the main browser window. Avant Browser, Maxthon and Slim Browser are some of the most popular tabbed browsers using Internet Explorer's rendering engine."
so... either this is a joke or we have prior art to that patent.
wtf???
/me goes off to sue /.
:P
I own the patents to jokes like this!!!
"sudo rm -rf your-face"
Please, I beg of you, man, don't give them any more Bad Ideas! I don't want to have to convert from hexidecimal to "Microsoft .NET Visual Base DOS" to decimal in order to figure out a BSOD!
If I mod you up, it doesn't necessarily mean I agree with what you've said, sorry.
Mozilla to Microsoft:
"It's clobberin time!"
Microsoft to Mozilla:
"Come get some!"
Check today's date...
I say YAY!!! for mozilla is this is true, and they win (which I seriously hope they do, maybe M$ will stop coming out with crappy new OSes like vista...) But if this is an April fool's article, Clever! I about leaped up and did cartwheels...
Anonymous Coward needs more karma. NOW!!
Vote with your mod points and your dollars.
The schaedenfreud from a move like this would be most deserved on the Monopoly, but of course, noting the date, one can't help but laugh and wish it were true. Good story.
I'm glad April 1st is on Sunday this year. That way we don't have to worry about real news getting ignored and overlooked because Slashdot editors are too busy thinking up an entire day of bullshit stories.
I want a new quote. One that won't spill. One that don't cost too much. Or come in a pill.
Mozilla should hold out for...
One hundred billion dollars!!!
If I have seen further it is by stealing the Intellectual Property of giants.
Heh - obviously the moderators didn't bother to RTFPatent...
.. opera sues mozilla. (btw, i do know its an april fools)
God Be Gone
This had me fooled for a minute. I was screaming "Noooooooo! Mozilla, you're playing with fire!" After all, if Mozilla really had such a patent, they'd do well to save it for defensive purposes.
I haven't hit the sack yet, so it didn't quite sink in that it was April Fool's Day. In fact, with all the all-nighters I've been pulling lately, I think my biological clock is only up to about March 20 or so.
:-) and cat did not get my tongue.
I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
Great. Make the lawyer's rich. This is like a little British boat moving close to Iranian waters. Really.
It's the excuse Microsoft needs to start their barrage of litigation. They have lawyers. They have money. Guess who doesn't?
Ballmer's been waiting for this moment, and The Mozilla Foundation handed it to him on a platter. Wanna see what happens when it's not really David vs. Goliath, rather Genghis Khan vs your neighbors? Watch.
---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
Bah. Nobody appreciates (or even notices) subtle puns any longer. Or reads the article(s) cited, for the matter.
Perhaps I was a little too subtle. Next time, it's strictly "OMFG PONIES!" That way, if anyone rates that "overrated", Taco will come down from on high and turn their css all pink.
Heeee's baaaack!
I want some karma too...
But I have to answer to the current poll.
Missing Option:
Boobs. [No need to speak spanish]... might not be too safe for work.
Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
that's a lot of money to give or lose
Ummm... it's April 1, dude.
great! You might as well sue Dillotoo ya bastards!
*plays the Apogee theme song music*
I understand that it is a /. tradition to have lots of April Fools stories on the first, but does the whole page have to be composed of these this year? I am not trying to be flame bait I am just saying once is funny, 4 is wearing thin and this many is just plain tired..
It's only paranoia if your wrong...
AFAIK Microsoft has been patenting all manner of obvious things but has been keeping these for defensive purposes. It is wonderful to have patents in hand that they are vulnerable to, but foolishness to start a patent war with them given that by now they have the software equivalent of many patents for the wheel, the lever, and Lord knows what else thanks to the stupidity of USPTO. Better to let them know that a patent exists but NOT sue them, so the next time Mr. Ballmer rants about open source software using Microsoft IP (i.e., these patents on the obvious) he can be reminded that there are some places Microsoft violates patents also. The danger is that Microsoft may buy off this one, then go on to start filing its own lawsuits all over the place since they have been so publically sued. It is not a war that is wise to start, will make nobody rich but the lawyers and impoverish everyone else...unless (bloody unlikely!) Congress should step in and reform the patent system.
Both Konqueror (KDE) and Safari (Apple) have tabs. Will Mozilla also sue KDE and Apple? Or they only go for The Big Green (over one billion from Microsoft)?. I dont know about KDE, but Apple can also be squeezed for a big sum (not as much modey as from Microsoft but still worth the effort)
Because the new Slashdot design does not render properly in Firefox.
What asshat designer would not make sure that a site like frigging SLASHDOT! doesn't work in frigging FIREFOX!
Jeez, I hate IE!
Ignorance is curable, stupid is forever.
"April Fools"
You ruined it for all of the people who just read the title of the article.
(spoiler warning)
The patents supporting images are of paper file folders with tabs sticking up from the top.
If you must!
i can imagine the tabs being damaging... they are competing about the global tab share. you see, when a microsoft user brings about 10 tabs, it raises the total number of tabs in the world, and is 10 tabs less for other browsers. the ratio of tabs is relative to a sum of money the software companies get paid by the government for being efficient and space saving. what you all should do now is to open 100 tabs in your firefoxes, or more preferably in your local bar, so we cab really take this issue on to the next level.
Using tabs for separate windows in an app pre-dates FF's use of them. Using them in a browser is hardly innovative. Sounds to me like the Mozilla patent is just another BAD patent.
Who is the fuckwad that moderated this flambe?
Opera had tab browings first.
well, it looks like opera-mozilla finally got the drop on bill and steve. that patent app is airtight, believe me. fair and square. crazy, but redmond is just going to have to bite the bullet and start calling them something else, at least here in the states. maybe they could try "knobs." no wait, i know: "babs!" yep. that could work. in other oddness i heard that hex thing on saturn is really a giant nut holding the planet together - and it's loosening! why is april so damn weird? - js.
Funnily, IBM actually owns the patent to tabbed browsing...
http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT6049812&id= cA0EAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&dq=tabbed+br owsing
StarTrekPhase2 - The Five Year Mission Continues!
And in other news readers notice that (once again) every Slashdot posting on 4/1 is an April Fool's joke. Since April Fool's jokes arn't funny when you see them coming, no one is fooled. Commander Taco continues to laugh.
the clock on the wall says 4 til 7
Now, if only this didn't have to go through a lawsuit ... and microsoft would just give them the money ... for free ... not on april fools ... because they felt like it ...
but, what are the chances of that ever happening?
i probably should disconnect my internet for the next 11 hours ... i was asleep before so it didn't matter ... but now ...
Microsoft Performs Illegal Operation, Shuts Down
Microsoft Corp. issued a surprise press release this morning announcing that the company had "performed an illegal operation and would be shut down." Company executives refused to provide further information regarding the cause of the unexpected shutdown, only issuing a cryptic error number of $00038FF577 and advising all interested parties to "contact their system administrator."
you could, say, go outside. Toss a frisbee. Walk the dog. Strike up a conversation with a real world human being.
Seriously, you can survive one full day without regular Slashdot. You can.
Tabbed browsing considered harmful.
If you look at the drawing for the patent, you'll see a hanging file folder with a tab in it. Where can I get that firefox theme and can I get it in standard green?
The amazing thing is, given how desperate and jealous the FOSS FUD-driven industry has become, this actually SEEMS like something they would sue for.
They seem desperate to make money, since they are giving away a free product... which STILL can't compete with anything Microsoft makes. Not because it's "bundled", as they would have you believe, but rather because Microsoft, as always, ends up making vastly superior products than their competitors.
Netscape didn't lose the first time because IE3.01 was included on the Win95 OSR2 cd (but not installed), they lost because Netscape was a buggy, crash-prone piece of shi.... garbage. And as a REAL kick in the teeth to the consumer, it was a buggy, crash-prone piece of shi.... garbage they had the honor of paying $50 for... in addition to the $50 they paid for the third-party WinSock (and maybe another $50 for a TCP/IP protocol stack).
Microsoft was the FIRST and ONLY company which said that EVERY consumer using their OS had the RIGHT to have all this stuff included... which the anti-MS FUD agenda is STILL fighting. Like it's some kind of virtue to pay $150 for a browser.
The REAL issue here is that these companies can't compete with Microsoft on the basis of how good their products are, so they are trying to legislate Microsoft into being forced into putting out a weaker product with fewer features so these companies will actually have a chance to con consumers into purchasing buggy, poorly written, non-MS software.
So this may or not be true, but it's certainly plausible. Sadly.
Actually, Adobe really does own the patent on tabs (early 1990's) in rich clients. Adobe used in in an organizer product and vigorously enforced it at the time. I wonder if their corp[orate memory is so short they have forgotten about it?
This outlines a course of action I am critical of because i think too much money would be involved in litigation and you can't fight the money makers with money. But this is only my gut feeling and this idea deserves more recognition than a post deep in slashdot discussion theme. You might contact some anti-patents movement and submit it as an idea.
---- MISSING MISCELLANEOUS DATA SEGMENT --- [sigdash] trolololol
Since When did Mozilla ORG own the rights to tabbed browsing? Opera came up with tabbed browsing way before Mozilla (as a web browser) ever existed!