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LG To Pay Licensing Fees To Microsoft For Using Android
PerlJedi writes "InformationWeek reports that LG is the latest in a string of companies who have been bullied into paying 'license fees' to Microsoft for the use of Android on their products. 'Microsoft said the deal with LG means that 70% of Android-based smartphones sold in the U.S. are now covered by its licensing program. ... Microsoft does not disclose how much revenue it's obtaining from Android, Chrome, and Linux licenses, but some analysts believe it may be substantial, to the point where the company is making significant profits from the mobile revolution even though its own offering, Windows Phone, commands a market share of less than 2%, according to Gartner.'"
In what way is this different to any other form of extorting money with menaces?
"Nice mobile phone business you've got here. Would be a shame if anything were to... happen to it."
++ Say to Elrond "Hello.".
Elrond says "No.". Elrond gives you some lunch.
Apple won't even license it's "rectangular touchscreen" patents for Android phones.
At this point I hate Apple alot more than I hate Microsoft.
So, Microsoft is getting paid for every Android device sold in the US ...
And people think the patent system isn't broken.
I wish we had a clear list of the patents Microsoft is asserting are being infringed, because from TFA:
That's just sad, really ... you can't build anything without paying Microsoft for the privilege of not getting sued. I'm betting a good deal of those patents are likely stupid things that had been in other operating systems before MS copied and patented them.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
"OMG MICROSOFT IS MAKING MONEY"
Actually, some of the more reasonable /. readers would probably find this a lot less objectionable if it was a case of Microsoft making money by selling Microsoft products.
Gravitation is a theory, not a fact.
If it is indeed for the file system, then it's understandable.
Google gave HTC a couple patents to countersue Apple. So far, Oracle is the only party suing them directly (at least over android -- they were sued over the linux scheduler a couple years ago).
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
Ok, let me see if I got this right: they're extorting patent royalties from third party mobile vendors. They're almost certainly making them sign a contract with a time commitment on it. Then later this year they expect these same mobile vendors to ditch Android development and use Windows Mobile instead? All the while they need to continue paying the extortion.
Yeah... that's gonna work well. It virtually guarantees Windows 8 on a mobile device is DOA.
----- obSig
One of the patents that Microsoft uses in these type cases is “loading status in a hypermedia browser having a limited available display area” Seems to me this is way too vague to be a valid patent.
Here is a link to the actual patent http://www.patents4software.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/6339780.pdf
" Microsoft owns the patents based on years of R&D (Microsoft Research is the largest R&D center on the industry) and they legally ask for companies to pay to use their patented technology."
How do you know they own the patent? Because LG paid? That is not an argument.
"Microsoft owns the patents based on years of R&D (Microsoft Research is the largest R&D center on the industry) and they legally ask for companies to pay to use their patented technology."
If they disclose it would be easier to cope with. Maybe one can remove any offending code, but one is not given the chance to do that...
This is why their tactics are bad.
Maybe someone came up with the idea, without consulting their R&D's ideas. Regardless of how many billions Microsoft poured into it.
That is only one reason why Microsoft sucks and why it approaches extortion.
They don't give a damn if companies use WM...they don't need them to. WM exists so that they have a platform on which to use their patented technologies so as to avoid appearing to be a blatant troll. The real money is in doing nothing and getting paid for it via ridiculous patent law.
Sure, if you take it as a given that Google is lying and Microsoft is telling the truth, your post becomes reasonable.
1. Google does not believe that Android infringes any Microsoft patents.
2. Neither this nor any of the other licensing agreements reveal what MS patents are used in Android.
3. When Barnes and Noble was approached by Microsoft to make such a deal, MS refused to even tell B&N what patents were involved, and how they were being infringed. It was "trust us, your product infringes big-time, so pay up".
4. B&N told MS they wouldn't agree to anything without specifics. MS showed them the allegedly infringed patents, B&N laughed their asses off and revealed to the world, and told mighty MS "go ahead and sue us and see where it gets you". MS is now suing B&N, and B&N has filed antitrust complaints against MS.
5. Even if you take the most pro-MS view possible, the MS patents revealed by B&N cover a tiny subset of Android's capabilities. Yet MS demanded higher licensing fees for use of these patents than what they charge to use all of Windows Phone 7.
Put it this way - do you honestly believe that Microsoft Research laid the groundwork for Android? Do you believe Android developers paid any attention to any "patented inventions" from Microsoft?
I can't tell whether you are a) a shill b) hopelessly naive or c) sarcastic. I certainly hope it's c).
See the many clarifications above. If they were legitimate patents, they would't be playing this stupid black-box bullshit.
I'm hoping the BN Nook suit actually gets this list into the public record already. I'm sure some intern at Google could probably code around them in about 25 minutes, by the way they're insisting that the list is sooper sekret.
yep, i think the reason is more like"You currently have a microsoft licence - want to keep it???"
"The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
I think this is a big reason why the Nokia deal is so important to Microsoft. In pretty much every aspect, it appears that Microsoft is ultimately trying to push Nokia+WinPhone as a product in and of itself, with little thought given to the OEMs. In my humble opinion, this is the right strategy. Microsoft can't (and doesn't want) to compete with Android directly, since they'd be going up against an entrenched and inexpensive foe with whom the carriers and OEMs already have a strong relationship. And after Windows's dominance in the 90s, they know exactly how futile competing against that can be.
But by betting heavily on Nokia, Microsoft has guaranteed themselves a partner who will build hardware specifically tailored to their OS (and vice versa) and who will never have to choose between putting marketing dollars behind Windows Phone or Android.
Warning: Contents May Be Flammable. Keep Out Of Reach Of Children.
I can't understand why all the companies that Microsoft is blackmailing, especially Google, don't form a cohesive group to fight back. At least to finally oblige Microsoft to reveal the actual details of whatever their supposed Linux/Android copyrighht claim is.
That is basically what it came down to. Microsoft is basically making everyone pay to them regardless of what they do - even if you use linux, you have to pay them. and they are doing these on THREATS of litigation and do not even feel the need to actually show their patents. they are not suing anyone either - they are threatening to.
this is extortion. period. there is no other explanation or definition for it.
so, basically we are going to end up having paid to microsoft, EVEN if i do NOT use microsoft products, because microsoft was successful in threatening the producers to pay them out of fear.
i dont approve that. i choose a product, when i choose a product. if i was going to choose a microsoft product, i would do so. when i have not chosen a microsoft product, that means i have NOT chosen to PAY them.
if they take my money through ANY means out of my own choices, then it means they are robbing me. period.
i dont see any other option but to pirate, to get my money back, which was taken away from me through these illegal means.
the problem is, most of microsoft's products are crap, and i evade them as much as possible. so, what am i going to do now, since i am being cashed by microsoft even when i do NOT use their product ? pirate the other software which was supposed to be NOT microsoft ? this is a pinch.
Read radical news here
Microsoft alleges that their patents are violated. they do NOT show, or say, or even let you peek at what patents were violated. they may basically be bluffing, and there is no way to know that. you cant sue them for their own patents either. they dont sue anyone, ending up having to show their patents either. they are just THREATENING to sue, and extorting money over their alleged patents. we do not even know whether they have patents or not.
Read radical news here
The worst part of this was revealed by Barnes & Nobel when they said that part of the demanded secret licensing agreement was that it gave Microsoft design approval over future devices. That should never have been agreed to, or allowed. Giving Microsoft that power allows them to control the entire future progress of the Android hardware ecosystem, meaning that they could cripple future Android hardware because their Windows phone is not competitive. It would be like AMD not being allowed to release new processors without Intel approval. If that had ever happened do you think that AMD64 would have ever seen the light of day?
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
Comment removed based on user account deletion
It would be nice to have one of these suits actually go to a court where the judge actually understands the 'value' of these patents. Even if they're valid, they're worth about 1 millionth of the cost of the phone. Have some judge set damages of a penny and let's be done with this crap.
Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
I've tried running Windows with an ext2 file system. Windows can read other file systems with help from drivers, but it's never 100% compatible. When I tried it, it was also a pain to use, because you had to remember to manually start the driver after booting up. And still need NTFS or FAT to boot.
MS of course prefers that it not be easy to use a different file system. I keep hoping their loser business strategies will eventually send them into bankruptcy. It would serve them right. But there is still an amazing amount of blind love for MS out there. Apple also gets way more love than they deserve.
Intellectual Property is a monopolistic, selfish, and defective concept. It is "tyranny over the mind of man"