Couldn't IBM, Novell and other organizations with lots of patents leverage these portfolios to combat the Microsoft way? If IBM would start a patent consortium around the patents they've opened up to the open source community, and a small company was part of that consortium, when the small company got sued by Microsoft IBM (and IBM's patents) would be there to help.
IBM, Novell and other large corporations that have thousands of patents, and that have opened up many of these patents, should form a consortium. Smaller software companies join this consortium and pay an annual due (couple thousand dollars, based on size of company).
If any of these smaller companies get sued by a big company not part of the consortium, the big companies in the consortium do 2 things: they leverage their patent portfolio against the company pressing suit, and they provide legal support.
I imagine the big companies in the consortium could even make a profit off this, as the yearly dues for all the companies will exceed the amount spent on legal fees.
And in one fell swoop we can make the ruling decision of the gov't moot, and thumb our noses at anti-FOSS corps like Microsoft.
I like Windows, it's me versus the operating system. I switched from a Mac to Windows XP, classic theme. A Mac's eye-candy gets in the way of graphic design. A nice neutral grey interface is why I use Windows. That, and I built a Dual Xeon for $1500, and a Mac that fast would have cost me twice as much.
This guy keeps saying the same things over and over again. Why anybody would pay him $10,000 (his starting price) to review their site is beyond me.
Instead, someone should make an 8-ball with his 30 stock tips in it: "Don't have a link to the homepage on the homepage." "Don't have dark text on a dark background." "Have a search field in plain sight on the homepage." "Make your pages liquid."
and so forth
It's actually the USPTO's responsibility to check for prior art, so all these patents are professions of their ignorance.
It costs about $7,000 to get a patent, including legal fees.
The major problem here is not M$, it's the patent office and their procedures (and incompetence).
It does seem like it must come to a breaking point sooner or later.
Maybe this has been asked before, but what idiot at Microsoft decided to remove Windows Update from the default Start Menu in XP? You have to go to the help center to find it.
That is at least one reason why so many simple PC users don't update.
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Couldn't IBM, Novell and other organizations with lots of patents leverage these portfolios to combat the Microsoft way? If IBM would start a patent consortium around the patents they've opened up to the open source community, and a small company was part of that consortium, when the small company got sued by Microsoft IBM (and IBM's patents) would be there to help.
well then membership for FOSS software companies could be free or practically free
IBM, Novell and other large corporations that have thousands of patents, and that have opened up many of these patents, should form a consortium. Smaller software companies join this consortium and pay an annual due (couple thousand dollars, based on size of company). If any of these smaller companies get sued by a big company not part of the consortium, the big companies in the consortium do 2 things: they leverage their patent portfolio against the company pressing suit, and they provide legal support. I imagine the big companies in the consortium could even make a profit off this, as the yearly dues for all the companies will exceed the amount spent on legal fees. And in one fell swoop we can make the ruling decision of the gov't moot, and thumb our noses at anti-FOSS corps like Microsoft.
I like Windows, it's me versus the operating system. I switched from a Mac to Windows XP, classic theme. A Mac's eye-candy gets in the way of graphic design. A nice neutral grey interface is why I use Windows. That, and I built a Dual Xeon for $1500, and a Mac that fast would have cost me twice as much.
adults would probably fare worse, I'm guessing a 1/4 of them know the kids do
This guy keeps saying the same things over and over again. Why anybody would pay him $10,000 (his starting price) to review their site is beyond me. Instead, someone should make an 8-ball with his 30 stock tips in it: "Don't have a link to the homepage on the homepage." "Don't have dark text on a dark background." "Have a search field in plain sight on the homepage." "Make your pages liquid." and so forth
It's actually the USPTO's responsibility to check for prior art, so all these patents are professions of their ignorance. It costs about $7,000 to get a patent, including legal fees. The major problem here is not M$, it's the patent office and their procedures (and incompetence). It does seem like it must come to a breaking point sooner or later.
Maybe this has been asked before, but what idiot at Microsoft decided to remove Windows Update from the default Start Menu in XP? You have to go to the help center to find it. That is at least one reason why so many simple PC users don't update.