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Microsoft and LG Electronics Sign Linux Covenant
rs232 wrote with a PC World link discussing another alliance between Microsoft and a vendor via Linux. The vendor this time around is electronics maker LG, and marks the fifth company to license unspecified patents relating to Linux or Linux devices from the OS giant. "'This agreement is focused only on exchange of patent rights,' said David Kaefer, general manager of IP licensing at Microsoft. 'The open-source elements of the deal do utilize a covenant model similar to the Xandros and Novell deals, but this deal is most similar to recent agreements with Samsung and Fuji Xerox.' Those deals were signed this year in April and March, respectively. Both covered general access to intellectual property contained in patent portfolios and included protection for customers using Linux-based software."
they might as well just start folding their money into paper airplanes and throw em into Redmond
Be prepared to see more and more of this sort of thing.
Embrace, extend and extinguish
When will the USDOJ step in and put a stop to this? Probably never.
Goodbye GNU/Linux. I loved you, while you lasted.
Why do I keep seeing headlines about companies signing patent deals with a company who said that Linux infringes on exactly 225 of their patents, but doesn't know which ones? Why are companies signing patent deals with a company to protect them from patents without knowing what they are? This is sounding like SCO -vs- IBM 2.0, but even more bizarre. What the heck is going on?
When Microsoft came for Novel,
I remained silent;
I did not use OpenSUSE.
When they locked Xandros into a deal,
I remained silent;
I did not use their software either.
When they came for LG Electronics,
I did not speak out;
As I did not think it meant anything.
And finally when the suits came for Ubuntu,
there was no one left to speak out.
Embrace, Extend, Destroy.
What on Earth are you doing on Slashdot?
After all, how many billion dollars did MS spend to make Windows XP and Vista the best operating systems this universe has ever seen? And some people thought they could just go and steal everything without having Microsoft fight back?
235 patents.
I say again: 235 patents.
Considering how rock solid Windows has been since Windows 2000, and that Linux is still a little flaky, I'm guessing the kernel developers didn't have access to the stability patents by Microsoft.
Well, I'm really only surprised that LG didnt just license Windows instead and be rid of all the issues at once.
Linux violates 235 Microsoft patents.
go read the deals themselves. Ignore the headlines and read the friggin deals.
Novel pays MSFT $100 odd million. MSFT pays novel $240 million.
Novell nets $140 million dollars, and MSFT literally spews FUD, when MSFT did the paying.
Xandros and LG are just cashing in on the deal. Not for Linux's sake but for free money from MSFT.
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
Both companies are simply saying we could sue each other but we won't.
They leverage power, make certain demands, stated either subtly or outright, and you either pay their tributes and taxes or something bad happens to you.
However this only works if your victi - er partner feels they have something to lose. The little guy, however, was the undoing of the Roman empire, and it will be the undoing of Microsoft. Mark my words. And long live the internet.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
That it's patents are worth something when it has to PAY everyone to license them ? Isn't the point to COLLECT money for your patents ? I know they have a long term plan and more money than god, but I don't believe this will pay off in the future. I think by the time this deal, and the others like it even start to recoup M$'s investment, there will be some form of patent reform, that will make these deals useless.
Before I get my qwerty in a knot over this, am I not correct in pointing out these covenants and agreements apply only to companies who deal with the U.S.A., while doing business in said state?
Last time I checked, I live elsewhere, my current distro is E.U. based, and my probable future distro is based in the Isle of Man, so why should I care about Americans shooting themselves in the foot?
In B.C., our fascism is green.
Microsoft is basically signing reciprocal agreements with all of these companies saying that MS won't sue them for patent violation and vice versa.
Is this basically giving Microsoft free access to everyone else's patent portfolio? It's not like they've specifically enumerated which patents are at issue here. So if these companies are signing something which says "I promise never to sue MS for patent infringement", and furthering the belief that open source must be in violation, aren't MS getting a tremendous advantage and leverage over the rest of the industry?
Man I wish the USDOJ hadn't dropped the ball on anti-trust proceedings.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Looks to me that what MS is doing here is borderline illegal.
If M$ saw profit in acting like Nazis, they would act like Nazis. Do you doubt that for an instant?
Except this time they're doing it directly, rather than through their shill:
http://lwn.net/Articles/73592/
Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
Even if MS could kill commercial Linux, it will not be able to kill Linux. Linux survived quite some time without business. Yes, development will slow down, but there will be no way it will be killed. That's the big advantage of FOSS: When IBM stopped supporting OS/2, it basically was dead. If IBM stops supporting Linux, then it will still exist and continue to be developed.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
Linspire: Oh, they're coming! They're coming! Just like last time!
Debian: We've got to wait it out for reinforments.
Linspire: They killed Private Xandros and Assimilated General SUSE! We've next!
BOOOOOOOOM!
Debian: LG Electronics!
Linspire: They're gone...
Red Hat: (removes his hat)
Ubuntu: (plays a funeral tune on his bugle)
Isn't it a narcoleptic Linux distribution?
"The last thing I want to do is deal with a bunch of people who want something."
Major Major
That's right people MSFT is paying protection money to Linux vendors...
Your statement is very clever, but untrue.
Yes, microsoft is paying linux vendors. But history has shown that Microsoft has an end-game in mind that will harm everyone.
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MS is paying these companies money so that MS wont sue them for patent infringment? WTF?????? Either someone has lost it big time in Redmond or MS is actually scrambling so they dont get sued. Gee I wonder if Vista has some GPL'd code in it.
It works like this:
"Hi! I'm from Microsoft!"
"Oh, hello there!"
"Would you like some money?"
"Geee, sure!"
"Fine, just sign right here."
What MS is really doing is covering their ass. Looking back, during the last years, MS has been paying again and again because someone claimed that MS violates their patents. While MS can afford that, it's definitely not funny to license MP3 patents from Frauenhofer and then get sued by Alcatel for the same technology. For that reason, MS is making patent swap deals to protect themselfs. (Maybe a litte FUD is good for their business, too)
Linux is not the main topic of the game... but they need the construct invented for Novell to get Linux vendors on board.
I have tried very hard to see some good in this and I believe you're right.
I think also the disgust that these companies may feel after having to cough-up to Microsoft's shake-down shenanigans will be the main driver in them accelerating their migration away from MS products. This will backfire in MS face in the future for sure. It is an act of desparation on the part of Mr Steve Balmer. This guy is vicious and cut-throat. The nightmare for Mr. Balmer Is being caught between a group of angry Tux penguins and an icy cliff. They are losing the grip and it is what they fear the most. They will do anything to protect their monopoly and without any semblance of scruples whatsoever.
Once you force a company to purchase protection from you it leaves a lasting bad taste in their mouth and given that they have paid protection they definitely feel free to completely do what ever they want including getting rid of all MS code in their products.
Look for these device companies to accelerate their move to Linux in even a much wider array of devices given their new false sense of freedom from the beast.
Ernie ball Guitar Co. http://news.com.com/2008-1082_3-5065859.html Comes to mind.Linux isn't a company, so no hostile takeover can occur.
However, now that Linux has become commercialized, it's possible to take over those companies.
Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.
My next monitor won't be LG. You see, I'm quite satisfied with the product, but this latest act excludes you from the companies I'd want to support.
It is my money and I care who I give it to.
It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
Be yourself no matter what they say
Perhaps all these deals are to give an aura of legitimacy to their patent claims, enabling them to spread FUD more effectively.
Perhaps they want to get enough people to continue Linux support under GPLv2.
Perhaps it's an attempt to tie Linux to some actual companies, which they can later undercut and drive out of business (which is how they've dealt with their traditional competitors until now, but which hasn't worked against open source.)
Honestly, I haven't been able to figure out what this is about.
It's not wasting time, I'm educating myself.
If you have paid for the right to use a patent then you cannot possibly infringe by definition.
Microsoft is buying rights to other people's patents because it makes a huge amount of stuff and there is a significant probability that they would otherwise infringe.
Other people want access to Microsoft because there is a significant chance that the stuff they build on top of Linux might infringe even if Linux does not.
Microsoft has a metric crapload of patents. The chance that Linux does not infringe at all is rather small. The real issue there is not infringement but what attempts they will or can make to enforce.
I don't think that the regulatory regime is going to be such that Microsoft can safely engage in SCO style tactics even if they wanted to.
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