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Samsung Seeking To Block Nvidia Chips From US Market

An anonymous reader writes: Bloomberg reports that Samsung has filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission asking them to block the import of Nvidia's graphics chips . This is part of Samsung's retaliation for a similar claim filed by Nvidia against Samsung and Qualcomm back in September. Both companies are wielding patents pertaining to the improved operation of graphics chips in cell phones and other mobile devices.

93 comments

  1. I mean this respectfully by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Paten trolls into hardware trolls - How about you folks go fuck yourselves.

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    1. Re:I mean this respectfully by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Perhaps companies with idiots for lawyers shouldn't start attacking Samsung..

      Apple attacked Samsung for using the same elements that Apple stole from others, Samsung attacked back with *real* patents to back themselves up.

      nVidia attacks Samsung with questionable patents and Samsung attacks back with *real* patents.

      Your "go fuck yourselves" should be directed @ Apple and nVidia you beligerent fuck.

    2. Re:I mean this respectfully by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      OH look - a fanboy.

      OP didn't specify a company he was directing his anger at. YOU read that into what he wrote. I'm with Ol Olsoc - fuck all of these companies and their patents.

    3. Re:I mean this respectfully by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Does the Samsung sock taste good? Why do you bother defending a faceless corporation that would let you die in a gutter just to increase the stock a penny?

      Fuck off with the corporation worship.

    4. Re:I mean this respectfully by Kagetsuki · · Score: 1

      Reguardless of how "patentable" things like round buttons and beveled edges should be you obviously don't understand how patents work. If Apple tried to sue the people they derived from for patent infringement they would loose and also run the risk of having their patent nullifed. If the people they copied from wanted to nullify the Apple patent or come to Samsungs aide in the case Apple put against them they could have. None of these things happened.

      And while we're on the subject, Samsung has a long history of non-trivial patent infringement. For instantance they blatantly stole Sharp LCD TV technology when it was the hot thing at the time and basically destroyed the market for Sharp after sharp had put immense effort and research into the technology. Even today Sharp has not recovered from this.
      http://online.wsj.com/articles...

      There are many many many other cases too. Samsung is unforgivable. They just copy everything and they think this is a valid business strategy. Seriously, why do more people not boycott them?

    5. Re:I mean this respectfully by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm so glad we're promoting the progress of science and useful arts.

    6. Re:I mean this respectfully by umdesch4 · · Score: 1

      Wait...you're asking for a boycott on Samsung, but not Apple? ...and you think that Apple hasn't tried (and succeeded) in lawsuits defending their frivolous patents by outspending their competition on fancy lawyers? While I agree that Samsung has pulled a lot of crap that is boycott-worthy, the way you've stated the case is, to put it nicely, disingenuous.

    7. Re: I mean this respectfully by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, fuck the fucking fuckers.

    8. Re:I mean this respectfully by ihtoit · · Score: 1

      is theft from a thief still theft?

      Sharp stole LCD technology from a chemistry professor at Hull University and beat them to the patent office claiming it as their own - AFTER he published papers describing the technology. http://www2.hull.ac.uk/science...

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
    9. Re:I mean this respectfully by ahabswhale · · Score: 1

      Frivolous? Their designs were a blatant ripoff of Apple's.

      --
      Are agnostics skeptical of unicorns too?
    10. Re: I mean this respectfully by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because if they go out of business, there would be no good phone co.panies left. Samsung is the only one that still treats their users like intelligent human beings by not idiot proofing their hardware (removable batteries, sd cards slots, etc.) Their software sucks, but that's easily fixed by rooting, so that's not a big concern.

    11. Re:I mean this respectfully by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Tried to find any evidence on your claims that sharp stole the professors technology Your link only talks about the professor but nothing at all about sharp stealing it. Could not find anything other some of the basic LCD discoveries were licences out to various companies.

    12. Re: I mean this respectfully by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      don't tell rape jokes. you might trigger some leftist's headmates

    13. Re:I mean this respectfully by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apples design ware blatant ripoff of LG's and other companies

    14. Re: I mean this respectfully by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

      I'm no fanboi, but I keep finding myself buying Samsung devices for the same reasons as the AC. Although, so far, I've not tried rooting any of them.

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    15. Re:I mean this respectfully by Threni · · Score: 1

      Why don't we change the law so that when you have a patent you just get to put a little sticker on the box the devices comes in that says "I did this!" so your shareholders and your mums and dads can be really proud! Well done! And if you can win a law suit against someone else, they have to put a stick on their boxes which say "this box contains stuff some other company worked on" and people can decide whether they give a shit or not, and if they don't (clue: nobody cares), they can buy the product, but if they do care, they can go and get the first companies product instead. Let the market decide that way.

    16. Re:I mean this respectfully by aaaaaaargh! · · Score: 1

      Once again patent law helps innovative small companies and the customer!

    17. Re: I mean this respectfully by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If Samsung fails, and as you say "there would be no good phone companies left," don't you think that someone somewhere would rise up to fill that market need?

      Or did Samsung have some kind of divine intervention showing them the righteous path?

      P.S. - Samsung, in no way, is a good company. They are bribery committing, price fixing, colluding, thieves - all convictions in a court of law.

    18. Re:I mean this respectfully by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Typical SJ jury mentality; Nvidia, an American company is being ripped off by an Asian company.
      Copy cat Samsung must taught a lesson.
      Samsung is easy mark in SJ. The above argument was used multiple times by Apple to win all.
      Why are they stupid? (Nvidia sounds American and that's all it matters)
       

    19. Re:I mean this respectfully by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

      Good thing there are more than two phone manufacturers, eh?

      Why does this have to be Samsung OR Apple?

      --
      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
    20. Re:I mean this respectfully by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was telling fucktard where to aim his vitriolic spewage at, since it was never Samsung that *gasp* started the sewage (intentionally misspelled)

    21. Re:I mean this respectfully by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it's not corporate worship to state the facts asshat... but then again, you're probably typing at your apple temple

    22. Re:I mean this respectfully by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      lol - sorry, but Samsung hasn't copied anything - they actually innovate, whereas Apple hasn't had a single original thought since the Woz left.

    23. Re: I mean this respectfully by ThePhilips · · Score: 1

      P.S. - Samsung, in no way, is a good company. They are bribery committing, price fixing, colluding, thieves - all convictions in a court of law.

      Name one company which isn't.

      All companies do it.

      If found, pay fines, downplay it in media, and then proceed with the business as usual.

      --
      All hope abandon ye who enter here.
    24. Re:I mean this respectfully by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      Apple attacked Samsung for using the same elements that Apple stole from others, Samsung attacked back with *real* patents to back themselves up.

      Except both were real patents. Apple's patents were Design Patents which cover ornamental designs unique to the covered item. Samsung's patents were FRAND licensed Utility Patents.

      And yes, if you want people to learn about computers, you gotta learn all about IP law because it's complex and tricky.

      Samsung made a phone that did violate Apple's design patents - which are purely for decorative purposes (rounded slab with grid of icons). In fact, you can't have any utility in a design patent - because the features are ornamental, slight non-functional changes can be made to not violate the patent. (And face it, when all the reviews of the Galaxy S (the original one) all said "It's an iPhone clone", you know you're in trouble. Especially since no other Android device gets that mention).

      Samsung fought back using FRAND patents that earned it considerable consternation and censure by the EU and the DoJ who promised to look into the issue should Samsung actually proceed. And South Korea, too, Samsung's home turf.

      It should be noted Google tried to do the same and also got shot down using Motorola's patents - FRAND patents simply have lesser protection due to their special status.

    25. Re:I mean this respectfully by uninformedLuddite · · Score: 1

      >And yes, if you want people to learn about computers, you gotta learn all about IP law because it's complex and tricky.

      So the girls should be becoming lawyers instead?

      --
      The new right fascists are bilingual. They speak English and Bullshit.
  2. But hey by Snotnose · · Score: 1

    the consumer comes out ahead in all this, amirite?

    1. Re:But hey by davydagger · · Score: 1

      We do? Whatever happens, its going to create needlessly high barriers to entry to potential companies looking to make chips.(the threat of being sued), and the cost of the law suit, as well as funds saved in anticipation on the next law suit adding to the total price of doing business. The only people who come out ahead are the lawyers, and mabey politicians. Thats the problem in America. Its that government and regulation is done for the careers of the lawyers doing the regulating, not for the people its supposed to protect. Thats why people hate the government. Thats why people chose to be libertarians. Its not a hard sell the American public on the idea that any government program exists, does so to fuck you.

    2. Re:But hey by Snotnose · · Score: 1

      That whooshing sound is my sarcasm flying right over your head. Of course the major loser in these things is the consumers.

    3. Re:But hey by aliquis · · Score: 1

      I assume that maybe I would get a cheaper graphics card (Sweden.)

  3. Lawyers are the only winners by Billly+Gates · · Score: 0

    Don't these 2 competitors realize by not sueing each other they both win?

    In the end it doesn't matter who wins. the lawyers will take the money and both Nvidia and Samsung loose.

    1. Re:Lawyers are the only winners by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't like Nvidia or Samsung much. But I will give Samsung credit they generally only sue the shit out of people that attack them, as per this patent case,

    2. Re:Lawyers are the only winners by bloodhawk · · Score: 1

      Once one has fired a Salvo the other is really obliged to do the same otherwise everyone else will see them as an easy mark. Blame the twat that decided to fire the first salvo and the idiotic patent laws. Samsung appear to be proceeding down the only avenue that the current ridiculous laws allow.

    3. Re:Lawyers are the only winners by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

      The only winning move is not to play.

    4. Re:Lawyers are the only winners by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Never mind that Samsung usually instigates the suing by stealing other people's shit...

    5. Re:Lawyers are the only winners by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In other words: "Samsung gets a pass, again, for being equally shithead, because they weren't the first shithead."

      How many more times does Samsung get a pass around here? Two wrongs don't make something... Oh hell I don't know.

  4. Hey man, free idle hands of the market... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Gotta be free to choke out the competition through legal chicanery, right?

  5. Food Fight! Food Fight! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I remember a Food Fight started during one lunch period when I was in Jr. High School. It was bewildering--why throw away all that good found? (My mother was a lousy cook and the school food was magnitudes better than hers) and wonderful--some one took responsibility by making lunch time fun and exciting. I'll bet Samsung, Qualcomm and nVidia will end up in the Principal's office and we might talk about for years.

  6. Pathetic. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just merge. Capitalism's end game is a command economy where the "government" comprises a handful of ultra-wealthy groups who answer to nobody.

    1. Re: Pathetic. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As an recently-joined nvidia employee, please no...

  7. If you complain about no nvidia source take note by dbIII · · Score: 2

    If you complain about no nvidia source code for linux drivers take note - it's because of this stupid patent troll shit that they get subjected to and had to deal with ever since some of the graphics team were at SGI.

  8. Re:If you complain about no nvidia source take not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is a patent troll shit that NVIDIA STARTED!!!

  9. Re: If you complain about no nvidia source take no by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Re read the summary. No idea sued first. Samsung is just defending themselves.

  10. Re:If you complain about no nvidia source take not by bloodhawk · · Score: 1

    that argument only works if Nvidia were the victim here.

  11. MAD Situation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So when all the big players are sitting on their patent stockpiles in a classic MAD standoff, how the hell are any new players going to enter any tech markets ?

    Patent law needs to be reformed quickly

  12. Like they stand a chance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A non-US company sueing a US company in a US court? We all know how that'll turn out.

  13. Re:If you complain about no nvidia source take not by dbIII · · Score: 1

    The argument works because the software patent system exists instead of it being a copyright system. There should not be any victims or any way it can escalate into the current attempt at a denial of trade.

  14. Re:If you complain about no nvidia source take not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ahhh yes, the old, it isn't there fault, it is the systems fault. NVidia acted like douche bags, just like they do with source code. HArdly suprising behavior from them and if you think the patent system being different would suddenly make them less of a dick then I have a bridge to sell you. The system sucks and one of the reasons it sucks is because of companies like NVidia.

  15. Konami v. Roxor by tepples · · Score: 1

    You mean like Konami v. Roxor, the lawsuit over the Dance Dance Revolution patent that led to a claim construction in Konami's favor?

    1. Re:Konami v. Roxor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mean ~10 years ago? that is your best (and only) example?

  16. Deserved by nateman1352 · · Score: 1

    Honestly nVidia's business practices have been so shady recently, they make what Intel was doing in 2006 look tame. They do everything they can to make as many games as possible run poorly on anything other than nVidia GPUs, including sending employees to game studios to help "optimize" their games. They bribe review sites and "suggest" certain benchmarks to use. Also, thier legal department is more aggressive than Apple's. They deserve to be taken down a notch.

    1. Re:Deserved by Calibax · · Score: 4, Insightful

      How, exactly, can Nvidia make games run poorly on other hardware? They don't write the games. Both AMD and Nvidia have extensive outreach programs to developers and make engineers available to game studios, and obviously those engineers will make suggestions on how to improve game performance on their hardware. But I doubt that game studio staff would be willing to cripple their games on either platform at the behest of Nvidia or AMD engineers.

      Would you like to provide citations that they bribe sites? And how would that hurt game performance? How can using certain benchmarks (as you suggest) make games run slower on other hardware? And even if they did, are you saying that sites would accept Nvidia's suggestions and ignore AMD suggestions?

      AMD fanboy much?

    2. Re:Deserved by nateman1352 · · Score: 2

      How, exactly, can Nvidia make games run poorly on other hardware? They don't write the games. Both AMD and Nvidia have extensive outreach programs to developers and make engineers available to game studios

      That is true, but nVidia's outreach engineers have a history of checking code that regresses performance on competitor hardware. See what this Value developer has to say about "Vendor A": Vendor A is also jokingly known as the "Graphics Mafia". Be very careful if a dev from Vendor A gets embedded into your team. These guys are serious business.

      How can using certain benchmarks (as you suggest) make games run slower on other hardware?

      Thats not what I'm suggesting. I am suggesting that nVidia has a history of being dishonest which thier performance benchmarks. The worst case by far is during the GeForce FX era when they were caught a driver that detected it 3DMark 2001 and then only rendered content that was visible to the camera instead of the whole frame to boost thier benchmark scores. That was a while ago and I've been unable to find the original story on it.

      AMD fanboy much?

      Not at all, my desktop currently has a GeForce 570 installed. When I bought it nVidia clearly held the performance crown. That said, I really don't like the unethical business practices and I think I might not buy them again.

    3. Re:Deserved by Calibax · · Score: 1

      That is true, but nVidia's outreach engineers have a history of checking code that regresses performance on competitor hardware. See what this Value developer has to say about "Vendor A":
      Vendor A is also jokingly known as the "Graphics Mafia". Be very careful if a dev from Vendor A gets embedded into your team. These guys are serious business.

      So, you are suggesting that game studios let vendors check in code totally unreviewed? I worked at a company that had two engineers from Nvidia and 3 from AMD - none of them had the ability to check in code, although they did have access to our sources.

      The Nvidia engineers were top notch, knew their products, knew how to get performance from their products, and would be unhappy if we didn't take notice of what they said. The AMD people were OK, but just not in the same league as the Nvidia people. Which was best for us? The Nvidia guys improved our product for both their customers and AMD customers. The AMD people would only look at AMD specific code and provided way less assistance. I'd go with the Nvidia guys any day - they were indeed serious, hard working engineers, one with a ph.d., the other with a masters.

      And the best you can suggest for fiddling is a benchmark from 13 years ago? That several lifetimes in graphics technology - go look at any 2001 game. As I recall, both Nvidia and ATI (as it was then) tweaked benchmarks to favor their product around that time and were found out. However, modern graphics benchmarks make it difficult for any manufacturer to corrupt the results.

    4. Re:Deserved by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      do you wheeze and lisp while you talk? I could pretty much hear it when reading your post.

    5. Re:Deserved by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Thats not what I'm suggesting. I am suggesting that nVidia has a history of being dishonest which thier performance benchmarks."

      Both of the majors, and several of the older players have done this, nVidia is hardly unique in this.

    6. Re:Deserved by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "nVidia's outreach engineers have a history of checking code that regresses performance on competitor hardware. See what this Value developer [blogspot.com] has to say"

      That is not when he said at all, you've mis-characterised what he said to make them look worse.

      What he actually said was: "These embedded devs will purposely do things that they know are performant on their driver, with no idea how these things impact other drivers". He said that they will improve the performance with no regard to performance elsewhere. You said that they will deliberately do things that reduces performance for competitors. There's a huge difference in intent there.

    7. Re:Deserved by serviscope_minor · · Score: 0

      Would you like to provide citations that they bribe sites?

      Nvidias a dirty whore she slept around to trade favourable hardware reviews for sex. We should doxx her. I'll start:

      NVIDIA CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS
      2701 San Tomas Expressway
      Santa Clara, CA 95050
      Tel: 1+ (408) 486-2000
      Fax: 1+ (408) 486-2200
      info@nvidia.com

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    8. Re:Deserved by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Samsung are no better. Their TVs report back what you're doing to their mothership. If the TV cannot talk to Samsung, they disable local LAN applications.

    9. Re:Deserved by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

      While we're talking about Samsung, cheaters still find ways to cheat benchmarks.. I wonder if Nvidia could sue over stealing their benchmark cheating methods too...

      --
      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
    10. Re:Deserved by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They(nVidia) don't. It's just that AMD(/ATI) suck at:
      (a) software(even their windows drivers suck, and we won't even talk about crapalyst on linux)
      (b) CPU core design
      and now
      (c) GPU design(unless you need another space heater, although ATM that's probably a feature)

    11. Re:Deserved by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The difference in intent mostly doesn't matter. Nvidia doesn't allow their optimized instructions to run on other hardware, so when a game implements some optimized code like physx or txaa the instructions simply don't work on AMD hardware, typically falling back to either cpu instructions or some other secondary performance stat. This wouldn't be so much of an issue if the code was actually usable on competing hardware, but nvidia intentionally disables its use on their competitors platforms.

    12. Re:Deserved by sadboyzz · · Score: 1

      How, exactly, can Nvidia make games run poorly on other hardware?

      http://hardware-beta.slashdot....

    13. Re:Deserved by gilbie1937 · · Score: 0

      Great Post. I just want to share this site PDFFiller, Inc which I use to eSign my documents. I can also get third party digital signatures from my employees and clients. You can get a free trial if you ask for it http://goo.gl/SA1pfw.

  17. Is there any... by MasseKid · · Score: 1

    Is there any evidence (or even suspicion) that either side here used either the patent filing or actual stolen technology to create their product? If not then the laws are clearly broken when we are allowing non-revolutionary ideas to be patented.

    1. Re:Is there any... by rsmith-mac · · Score: 1

      Is there any evidence (or even suspicion) that either side here used either the patent filing or actual stolen technology to create their product? If not then the laws are clearly broken when we are allowing non-revolutionary ideas to be patented.

      NVIDIA holds a very large graphics patent pool. In a lot of ways they're the successor to SGI, and in the interim have picked up companies such as 3dfx, which has further enlarged their patent pool. Which makes it very, very hard to efficiently implement a GPU without violating some of those patents. Proving malice may be difficult, but it's hard to imagine building a competitive GPU and not infringing on those patents.

      As for whether the patents are revolutionary, that's a trickier point. If you researched into the same problems as NVIDIA a lot of your solutions would be similar/identical even without seeing how NVIDIA does it. But for a number of these patents the solutions are non-obvious; it's only after doing research and a lot of simulation do you come up with the same answer.

  18. Yes, that is exactly my point - patent abuse by dbIII · · Score: 1

    Try reading my above post again instead of assuming I'm on the side of either Nvidia or Samsung. We lose more from this situation than either of them. Consequences are inflated prices to cover costs of this idiocy and information needlessly kept secret as a result of such idiocy.

  19. Re:If you complain about no nvidia source take not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As someone who works for a relatively large automotive manufacturer, who has actually dealt with nVidia at a partner level (unlike you, who I assume is just a random internet troll, probably some kind of richard stallman or AMD fanboi) - I can safely say there are very good legal reasons nVidia can not release their source code.

    There are a solid dozen or so thirdparty software modules in their drivers (mostly desktop, but some are also for their mobile chips - some are common across the board) that aren't licensed to be redistributed, there is software specific to hardware IP which is patented and licensed by terms that forbid such redistribution, on top of nVidia's own software implementations of licensed patents and their own internal trade secrets and implementations of their own patents of course.

    If you're so naive to think a company like nVidia who has been developing state of the art GPUs and stream processors for over TWO DECADES can simply open source such a complicated and well established code base based on such significant amounts of inter-dependent IP (of which some they can't control) - you're fucking naive.

    The same goes for most GPUs (imgtec, vivante, qualcomm, etc, etc). The notable exceptions are AMD and Intel who have spent hundreds of millions, if not billions to reinvent the wheel themselves in ways that avoid patents and thirdparty modules - and the only reason those two specifically have managed to do it is because they've been making entire bloody systems (CPUs, memory modules, interconnects/busses, GPUs, etc) themselves for just as long.

  20. Just think by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If all technology was %100 open how far we'd be today. Companies would work hard as hell on products in a world where the best product wins. We live in a company with the best lawyers win world.

    1. Re:Just think by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Horseshit. What incentive would a company have to put $100M+ into technology development, if some asshat just gets it for nothing?

      Do you think we get the CPUs we have today if Intel and AMD don't have some guaranteed return on their billions invested in CPUS design and lithography?

    2. Re:Just think by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Interesting that you mention Intel/AMD. These companies have patent cross licensing agreements, and as such even though AMD has developed most of the important technologies in recent time (amd64, IMC, hypertransport, etc) Intel is freely granted the availability to use these techniques and they can focus on improving fabrication techniques instead. Despite this relationship which you might call anti-competitive there's still significant pressure for Intel and AMD to improve on past designs and maintain competitive pricing.

      I think that the original point of patent law was to protect inventors and thus incentivise true novel works. As it stands so many patents are held by a few corporations that the lowly inventor would likely infringe on some ridiculous existing patent just to complete his research. On the other side of things companies are so invested in protecting their portfolio and limiting outside prosecution that even achieving visibility of their source code requires an NDA. This practice seems to be implemented mostly to protect the owner of the code from prosecution for failing to respect others patents, and not to avoid distribution of code that is actually their own.

  21. Re:If you complain about no nvidia source take not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Actually I have worked with NVidia business wise and it is one of the reasons I would never trust that piece of shit company as far as I could throw it. I am certain there are lots of legal reasons to not release the code and I also agree they have made some great tech, neither of which make them a nice company, it is the naivety of the OP I disagree with in thinking that if the laws were different then somehow the pricks at NVidia would become nice people, it doesn't work that way.

  22. I propose the following by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All pants sold after 2014 must include an openable flap at the asshole/(other part) so citizen may be royal screwed at the whim of the law as simply as possible. Now this is a law our congress can pass.

  23. New meaning for competition? by lolococo · · Score: 1

    It sounds like these guys are taking the concept of competition to ever higher extremes. Is this ever going to end? I, for one, am not eager to see corporate armies taking it to the battlefield. But then, maybe I already missed that train ...

  24. Just in case we needed any more proof... by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    ...that the patent system is fubar.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  25. Re:Food Fight! Food Fight! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Gee, and there I was, thinking you meant the commentary on this post....

  26. I know it is privacy invasive,how far can they go? by GoodNewsJimDotCom · · Score: 1

    Okay, police are tracking people on their cell phone. So they should know if you're in a car traveling with someone else. So they should be able to make like "facebook friends" of all the people who travel with you. If someone reports your car's license plate, they probably could just feasibly link that to your phone on a simple 1:1 database search and stop you down the road if you're driving erratically.

    This makes me wonder how the public could contribute... Has anyone thought of, just for getting a full panopticon feel and a reverse likes of making a website that links bad driving with your license plate number? All you would do is take a video of a car driving bad in front of you, then upload it to a video sharing site, link it with the license plate on a searchable website. Suddenly all the bad driving someone does is now logged permanently on the Internet.

    Now cops could "randomly" be browsing the worst offenders, and just "happen to be the the area" (by linking drivers licence to cell phone records against bad drivers within 1 mile of a patrol car), and hand out reckless tickets.

  27. Re:I know it is privacy invasive,how far can they by GoodNewsJimDotCom · · Score: 1

    I'm not endorsing anyone doing this for real. It is just a thought on the ramifications. If they can catch you more often when you do bad driving, would we stop hanging them high, and put lower fines on driving infractions?

  28. The Best and the Greatest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
    What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
    Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
    O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
    And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
    Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
    Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
    O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

    On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
    Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
    What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
    As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
    Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
    In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
    'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
    O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

    And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
    That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
    A home and a country should leave us no more!
    Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
    No refuge could save the hireling and slave
    From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
    And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
    O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

    Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
    Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
    Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
    Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
    Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
    And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
    And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
    O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

    1. Re:The Best and the Greatest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dragonfly_ran-104.jpg

      Is what I have on my computer desktop. This beauty is not a pest, nor a genetic defect, in my opinion, but you who keep cutting down the flowers and driving bugs to extinction on my lot, might just be a pest and genetic defect. Do onto others as thou would have them do unto thee. Call them names, declare their stuff not up to code, and they'll do the same unto you. Forgiving tit for tat.

  29. Thieves by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 1

    Hey, let's be frank

    In technology almost everyone is a thief

    Not only in the corporate settings, even in the academia setting thievery thrives --- you do not even need to look far to read stories of professors stealing and patenting students' ideas from himself / herself

    And I am speaking from experience ... I had (at least) one idea stolen by my professor(s) and I couldn't do shit about it --- basically I had the choice of litigation (which would linger for ages) against my professor(s) and the university (which means I would never graduate) ...
     
    ... or I moved on ...
     
    ... by not disclosing any more ideas to anyone until I got my chance to try them out myself and patent them if they turn out to be useful

    --
    Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
  30. 1st poop!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    weeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  31. Everything cut throat these days by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We have gone way beyond normal competition these days. Its become a business in itself to file patent infringements, technology sharing disagreements and who actually holds the licenses to some technology. Apple certainly started things rolling but all of them found out that if you can't make money selling products. Then sue the other company for something. Be creative if you have too. Lawyers are definitely having some job security these days.

  32. Re:If you complain about no nvidia source take not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We ran into the same sort of trouble with OpenSolaris. Significant chunks of the Solaris codebase were licensed from other parties and had to be replaced or worked around.

  33. block imports? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But I have an Nvidia Geforce 630 in my computer now. So is the Geforce 630 made in the U.S.A.?

  34. Nvidias destruction. by hackus · · Score: 1

    Nothing would make me happier.

    From an open source perspective Nvidia is far worse than Samsung with regards to hardware openness.

    I mean, I have been very careful over the years to not buy phones, tablets, video cards that are associated with Nvidia in my private computing and professional computing experience.

    I urge everyone here to do the same and put your dollars privately in those situations professional consulting can sway your customers opinion towards companies that have open hardware. Even companies who are not open fully, like AMD, but much more so than Nvidia.

    Building a great operating system with source code requires open hardware.

    --
    Got Geometrodynamics? Awe, too hard to figure out? Too bad.
    1. Re:Nvidias destruction. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And only have awful AMD left in the discreet video card market? The company that has driver bugs that I've reported to MULTIPLE employees through official channels who's SPECIFIC JOB is to FIX DRIVER BUGS last YEARS through DOZENS of driver revisions? God, I hope not. NVIDIA actually cares about the user experience unlike AMD who write you off as a sucker after you've bought one of their sure to malfunction devices, and their market shares reflect this.

    2. Re:Nvidias destruction. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And fuck your open sores software. The most expensive software around unless your time has little or no value. I switch multiple frustrated clients to polished commercial solutions after they spend tons of money and effort trying to get FOSS solutions that are hacked together with bailing wire and duct tape to perform. They often have to personally consult with the authors of said programs ($$$$) to get full, up to date documentation for example. Such a joke.

  35. If this prevents me by sabbede · · Score: 1

    from getting a GF 960 for Christmas, Samsung is gonna get it.