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AOL Patent Deal Means Microsoft Now Holds Vestiges of Netscape

Posted by timothy on from the vestiges-are-the-best-part dept.

inode_buddha writes "It's part of the $1 billion AOL patent deal, and it's something that would have made many minds explode back in the 1990s. It still makes my mind explode today. Marc Andreesen points out that MS now has a significant chunk of the old Netscape. What are the ramifications for Mozilla?"

7 of 129 comments (clear)

  1. Patents shmatents. by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 3, Insightful

    >> Marc Andreesen points out that MS now has a significant chunk of the old Netscape. What are the ramifications for Mozilla?

    Not sure how much those patents would be worth to anyone, given that Netscape was unable to use them to defend against IE in the 1990s.

  2. Re:Nothing. by Old97 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Except this is about patents - not copyrights.

    --
    Very often, people confuse simple with simplistic. The nuance is lost on most. - Clement Mok
  3. Re:business as usual by OakDragon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    if you can't beat them, buy them

    Beat them and buy them.

    --
    Dark Reflection
  4. Re:Nothing. by Enderandrew · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Bill Gate's Embrace, Extend and then Extinguish philosophy didn't include suing over patents. Under Gate's reign, they never once used patents offensively.

    However, under Ballmer it has been a different story, so I don't know.

    That being said, if Netscape had browser patents that AOL was sitting on that could be monetized, I'm assuming they would have done so.

    --
    http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
  5. Re:Nothing, if Microsoft is smart. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Translation: I am a happy Apple customer. I do not want and never would want anything non-approved from outside my walled garden. By definition, anything non-approved is bad, and not only do I not want it, nobody else should want it or have any means of getting it.

    Well done, you are a *good* consumer and will get a gold star (cost $0.99, has been billed to your account).

  6. Re:Nothing. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    AOL *created* the Mozilla Foundation, so why would they sue them? It's a safe bet that Mozilla has a license to any relevant patent.

  7. Why Software Patents Won't Go Away by TheNinjaroach · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This billion dollar expenditure to buy something as silly as software patents is the #1 reason why they won't go away. Big business has too much invested in software patents to let some pesky government go about changing the rules. Meanwhile, small business suffers for it.

    --
    I went to eat some animal crackers and the box said, "Do not eat if seal is broken." I opened the box and sure enough..