Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The Dangers of a Patent War Chest

Posted by Zonk on from the not-more-powerful-quicker-easier-the-dark-side-is dept.

Timothy B. Lee writes "I've got an article in the New York Times in which I make the case against software patents. Expanding on a point I first made on my blog, I point out that Microsoft has had a change of heart on the patent issue. In 1991, Bill Gates worried that 'some large company will patent some obvious thing' and use it to blackmail smaller companies. Now that Microsoft is a large company with a patent war-chest of their own, they don't seem so concerned about abuse of the patent system. I then describe how Verizon's efforts to shut down Vonage are a perfect illustration of Gates' fears."

7 of 125 comments (clear)

  1. undisclosed balance-sheet liability .. by rs232 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "How often does MS sue smaller companies for petent infringement, compared to how often Microsoft is sued?"

    How many companies apart from Microsoft make allegations that Linux violates their patents.

    every Linux customer has an undisclosed balance-sheet liability

    was Re:who's suing who?

    --
    davecb5620@gmail.com
  2. Congress doesn't have to make them the same by MikeRT · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The Constitution doesn't spell out the way IP has to work. Congress actually has the power to grant patents for only certain industries if it chooses to do so. Personally, that's the way I lean these days because so little seems to be new and innovative outside a select few industries. It would be perfectly fair--and legal!!--for Congress to issue 10 year patents for nanotechnology, 20 year patents for drugs and 2 year patents for software algorithms.

  3. I would normally agree, but ... by empress101 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    some companies deserve this. An example, Vonage they desearve to be taken down this way. Its as if you have little else left such as a patient war chest to put all things right. Vonage is a horrible, evil company. I experienced this personally. They adopt the same practices of other evil empires and make it nearly impossible for you to get 'excellent customer service'.

    After my problems with Vonage I did some research and found countless complaints against Vonage and there deplorable behavior in there treatment of customers. Doing a simple Google or Yahoo search for complaints against Vonage and the tactics they use you find the number is overwhelming. I even found out that Vonage's membership in the BBB was revoked, because of there practices, and now along with Texas, California and other states class action lawsuits are being brought against Vonage.

    In the case of Vonage it seems this is the only way to get some justice. Even if using patient war chest is not a good idea. It is made necessary, because of all the underhanded, sympathetic judges, mostly Republican, backward dealing, that goes on with these billion dollar empires to circumvent the law and take away the consumers rights.

    "Evil does as evil gets"

  4. You have to realize... by nsebban · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Microsoft was already a big company in 1991. I don't think this can be called a "change of heart". It's closer to an "adaptation to the market", because they're not the only company to patent a wide range of processes and concepts, and because that's basically related to their business, as unfair and stupid as it seems. The problem is with patents and the patents laws, not with the companies who ask for them and obtain them. You won't fix that problem by forbidding Microsoft or Verizon or any big company from obtaining more patents, but by changing the policies of the patent office.

    --
    ____
    nico
    Nico-Live
  5. Re:techliberation and a grain of salt. by that+this+is+not+und · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Mass murder was committed under posters like that and many of the victims are still alive.


    Even for you, twit(ter) that is a pretty bold self-contradictory sentence.
  6. Microsoft blah blah blah by mrsteveman1 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    First of all, Steve Ballmer needs to shut the fuck up. There that felt better. In addition, I would remind everyone that Microsoft got where it is today by profiting from cloned versions of IBMs "BIOS".

    Regardless of what Microsoft's escaped zoo animals say, it has absolutely no interest in interoperability, their interest is to remain the only desktop and server software vendor, and NOTHING else.

    I would also suggest that open source developers don't actually need Microsoft's help or money, but if Microsoft wants to help they can grant patent rights to implementations of NTFS or SMB, including modifications and all future users of those modifications. Those are valid patents I'm sure, the rest is invalid, you can't patent universal ideas.

  7. Re:One of the big problems by AeiwiMaster · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Like this http://www.scribd.com/doc/25047/Full-body-teleport ation-system