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$1.5B Fine Overturned For Microsoft
ddrichardson writes "Following up on an earlier story, Microsoft's $1.5bn fine in the case with Alcatel-Lucent has been overturned. Microsoft are claiming a "victory for consumers". From the article: 'A US court has overturned a decision ordering Microsoft to pay phone firm Alcatel-Lucent $1.52bn (£777m) for infringing music patents. The federal judge in San Diego reversed a jury's decision which had ruled that Microsoft's Media Player software infringed on two Alcatel patents.'"
It wouldn't take many cases like this to start a financial recession in the entire software industry and send venture capitalists scurrying away from any software startup.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
I'd like to post something witty, funny, or something about how outraged i am about all these patent trolls. Possibly something saying its a shame that they aren't sticking it to microsoft. But when there's like 3-4 patent news items on the front page (possibly only 2 right now), and that's the case every day, i just wish that it would stop. Nothing funny, nothing insightful, just same news, different day.
Any time that a patent troll, anywhere, is defeated, its a victory for all, not just consumers. More judges need to rule that software patents of the obvious are unconstitutional (i think it was covered by the suffrage amendment) so that slashdot can return to reporting on google and the iphone instead of these patent stories.
Is it sad that I am more likely to recognize you and your posts by your sig than your name or UID?
In lieu of patent reform, in general I am for the defendant in any patent trolling case, which this appears to be. Even though my Linux loving heart hates to see M$ win anything. But given that Fraunhofer wasn't sued, this looks alot more like trying to shoot the biggest fish in the barrel with a pellet gun and expecting the fish and everyone involved to roll over and play dead, AKA pay up. So if M$ won this time, good for them.
Prolly good for us as well.
...Open Source isn't the only answer -- but it's almost always a better value than the alternatives...
The BBC article calls the overturned award a fine, but this seems incorrect. A judge and/or a jury awards damages in a tort case, they don't fine anyone. I expect such ignorance on slashdot, but on the BBC? I guess journalism is deteriorating internationally, not just in the US.
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
Microsoft is just a company with good and bad aspects. They are not evil incarnate. Stop apologising for being pleased with the news!
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Microsoft made good faith effort to license the technology in question from Fraunhofer for $16 million. But Alcatel-Lucent claimed that Microsoft licensed it from the wrong party. Even if that were the case, then Microsoft should only have been ordered to pay ~$16 million to Alcatel-Lucent, not 1.5 billion. That's why I felt the jury decision was BS. Why apply punitive damages to Microsoft when they made good faith effort to comply with the patent?
-- "I never gave these stories much credence." - HAL 9000
This case had ramifications WAY beyond any hassle for MS. Such a sizeable and far-reaching ruling over a couple of obscure patents would have sent a shockwave through the software industry--scaring the hell out of developers and encouraging the patent trolls even more.
This is really more of the same arbitrary justice that make software patents a bad idea in the first place. M$ can and does use the same threats anyway. Their prowess in court only strengthens their position as lord and master. Business method and software patents cover things that are not really inventions, so the results will always be arbitrary and manipulable. The court has decided to promote business rather than justice and such decisions have favored M$ more than once. On these grounds, M$ will violate the patents of other with impunity while threatening everyone else with ruinous legal costs.
What you have to understand is that M$ itself is a patent troll. Almost all of their software has come from predatory acquisitions but the market has dried up because people are no longer willing to risk their money in the business where M$ can crush them. You must have noticed that all of the innovative companies, Google, Wikipedia, Facebook and others are all using gnu/linux and avoiding the desktop in order to make money. M$ has built themselves a patent warchest to assail those businesses, and has been instrumental in setting up business method and other stupid patents. Others have taken advantage of the situation, but that does not make M$ any less culpable.
No additional certainty has been added to the market that can benefit anyone. The case is far from settled but it has already cost both companies boatloads of money. Only the largest companies could weather that kind of storm and this will keep investors and small companies out of the business.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Your generalization skills are, truly, impressive.
Moreover, what else are we supposed to think? As long as you get what you want, I'm OK with ____?
Self-interest is not only a fundamental feature of human nature, it's a perfectly rational way of approaching the world. If you don't like the fact that someone (in this case, not an American, as it turns out) is OK with this because his MP3 player will be protected, rather than complaining that he shouldn't want an MP3 player, maybe you should try to explain why he should want something else.
Bitching that someone wants something isn't helpful. Maybe if you explained why his MP3 player isn't worth the price that's being paid, it would be helpful. Most people are open to new information.
One must base one's opinions on something, and personal satisfaction is a good start. I fail to see why there's some moral imperative for me to be miserable, absent evidence that my personal satisfaction is harmful to someone else (or, even, my own longer-term satisfaction).
Reality has a conservative bias: it conserves mass, energy, momentum...
"Hello, Judge Rudi Brewster ? Good Evening.
This Bill G. calling, yes, that Bill G.
I was browsing a bit into our files and reports and I happened upon a funny browser history forwarded to me by ehh... someone in my team.
You know what ? When thinking about the term "Dwarf Tossing" i would think of dimly illuminated pubs with a midget in a footbal gear. I had to turn my monitor 90 to really understand what the pictures wer...
Ah, yes, yes, I understand, it is late and you have a judgement to overturn early tomorrow, yes, better I let you work now, sorry for disturbing. Bye"
It takes 40+ muscles to frown, but only four to extend your arm and bitchslap the motherfucker