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Microsoft Joins Open Invention Network (OIN), Will Grant a Royalty-Free and Unrestricted License To Its Entire Patent Portfolio To All Other OIN Members (globenewswire.com)
Microsoft said Wednesday it had joined the Open Invention Network (OIN), an open-source patent consortium. As part of it, the company has essentially agreed to grant a royalty-free and unrestricted license to its entire patent portfolio to all other OIN members. From the press release: By joining OIN, Microsoft is demonstrating its commitment to open source software (OSS) and innovation through collaborative development. With more than 2,650 members [Editor's note: the members include Google, IBM, Red Hat, and SUSE], including numerous Fortune 500 enterprises, OIN is the largest patent non-aggression community in history and represents a core set of community values related to open source licensing, which has become the norm. "Open source development continues to expand into new products and markets to create unrivaled levels of innovation. Through its participation in OIN, Microsoft is explicitly acknowledging the importance of open source software to its future growth," said Keith Bergelt, CEO of Open Invention Network. "Microsoft's participation in OIN adds to our strong community, which through its breadth and depth has reduced patent risk in core technologies, and unequivocally signals for all companies who are using OSS but have yet to join OIN that the litmus test for authentic behavior in the OSS community includes OIN participation."
Erich Andersen, Corporate Vice President and Chief IP Counsel at Microsoft, said, "Microsoft sees open source as a key innovation engine, and for the past several years we have increased our involvement in, and contributions to, the open source community. We believe the protection OIN offers the open source community helps increase global contributions to and adoption of open source technologies. We are honored to stand with OIN as an active participant in its program to protect against patent aggression in core Linux and other important OSS technologies." Further reading: Why Microsoft may be relinquishing billions in Android patent royalties.
Erich Andersen, Corporate Vice President and Chief IP Counsel at Microsoft, said, "Microsoft sees open source as a key innovation engine, and for the past several years we have increased our involvement in, and contributions to, the open source community. We believe the protection OIN offers the open source community helps increase global contributions to and adoption of open source technologies. We are honored to stand with OIN as an active participant in its program to protect against patent aggression in core Linux and other important OSS technologies." Further reading: Why Microsoft may be relinquishing billions in Android patent royalties.
Microsoft had been operating a patent shakedown against open source for a while now. Why is Microsoft doing this? Doesn't add up.
are lawyers. I can't find it in my heart to grieve for them.
This doesn't pass the smell test. They definitely have an angle here, we just don't know what it is.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
This is a brilliant move by Microsoft. This gives them full access to OIN software, without having to give anything away in return. Technically they have to allow other OIN members access to their patented software, but everyone knows nobody in the OSS community wants anything to do with M$ code, so in practice, they get everything and give nothing.
No, the OIN cross licenses everything to all it's members. Joining it is free, you just have to agree to cross license all of your relevant patents as well. I still think it's a trap, but it's not a cartel.
...so what happens to all tech that now depended on them? There must be some future protection, right? How does it work?
4wdloop
I agree with what you are saying, however I think the business environment has changed, not so much Microsoft. Microsoft has always been about maximizing profits. Twenty years ago they were the big 800 lb gorilla. They did what they wanted to make more money. Today they are competing in a field of equals and they are trying to remain relevant with the new computing paradigms. So now they have to behave nicely to maximize profits. They decided that joining OIN was worth more than the royalties they would have collected from OIN members. I believe they will still try to collect royalties from non-OIN companies. It is all about the money.
Having Windows 10 spy on you is part of their re-focused cloud business model. They still own the Windows platform, and in order to keep it 'cheap' enough to continue to compete with ChromeOS, MacOS and yes, Linux - while still monetizing it, they're gonna spy on you and hope that enough users keep Bing as the default search engine for them to make money selling ads there. Of course, some people won't stand for that - but those people have already found a way off of Windows.
But PC business software is dead - as far as Microsoft is concerned. They know enough companies are still stuck on 3rd party Windows apps to keep the monopoly going more or less indefinitely, but they're cash cow Office apps are now essentially web apps. I use Outlook to access my work email when I work from home - on Linux...
Speaking of Bing... now that Google's shutting down Google Plus rather than endure bad press for a product that will never compete with FaceBook, I wonder if Microsoft will similarly accept that Bing will never compete seriously with Google. Different markets, I know. Bing vs Google doesn't have to deal with the network effects of 'everybody's already on Facebook'.
Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
Does this mean Linux can now support ExFat? (the new file system that replaced Fat32 as standard for things like memory cards)