This is not indemnity against bugs. This is indemnity against patent issues.
MS for example takes no responsibility for just about anything that could happen with their products.
From an IP perspective, seems that they do. And it also seems pretty extensive.
From here:
It is also now providing OEM system builders with protection for the four major forms of disputes commonly associated with software, which are patent, copyright, trade secret, and trademark.
Apparently this is nothing new in the arena. Companies use shady patent laws to create 'protection' rackets providing insurance. I guess this is to protect from patent trolls by pooling a lot of patents in one lot. Most companies cross-license patents instead of litigation making an even bigger pool(see IBM). Ironic considering what patents were designed to do, don't you think?
It shouldn't be upconverted since cinemas have plenty of real estate to offer for even future formats. They work at what is called 4K which is at a resolution of 4096 x 2160. 1080p is 1920 x 1080. So you could double the resolution of 1080p and you would get about what you get in cinemas. There's more on this kind of weird HD stuff in my journal.
I don't like it. It's basically a vertical integration of their player, music, and video using their proprietary file formats. I don't know about you, but I would rather buy a standard DVD that I can play anywhere. And why should I buy TV shows I already get and can record via cable? It may be taking off, but it still has a long way to go to reach cruising altitude not to mention the destination: my TV.
As others have pointed out, Section 7 of the GPL may even now prevent the distribution of a patent-encumbered Linux distribution.
It may forbid it, but that doesn't mean it hasn't already happened, or won't happen. Remember, they gave a 'promise' not to sue the users. It's a clever way of cross-licensing just to comply with the GPL. They can very easily sue the Red Hat etc. which would just leave Novell.
IP != Copyright. Still, it's only semantics separating copyright and IP, or software patents, since if somebody has patented the method your using in your software, your copyright on that software is invalid. Microsoft has acquired a troll-mine so now they can start trolling for 'violations.' Kinda like SCO but this time they really got something. Ballmer calls it an "IP bridge" in their joint press conference:
So I don't want to make that unclear, but we also said, look, we care enough about this issue and we care enough about the fact that our patents have value, and we need to build this IT bridge, we'll actually go help you sell some of these subscriptions, because we're going to make clear to the market that interoperability is a good thing, and we're going to make clear that IP, the patent bridge, the IP bridge is an important thing.
Remember that Unix patent SCO was unable to assert? Well Novell has it. Along with a bunch of others. Coincidence? Sure. But they can still cause damage behind Novell's backs. They can leverage those patents and others they have against other Linux vendors. So basically Novell leased their patent portfolio to Microsoft to use as a bat against other vendors for 5 years. Seem familiar?
"There's a lot of public resonance with this notion that NASA ought to be doing something about killer asteroids...to be able to send serious equipment to an asteroid," McKay observed. "The public wants us to have mastered the problem of dealing with asteroids. So being able to have astronauts go out there and sort of poke one with a stick would be scientifically valuable as well as demonstrate human capabilities," he said.
So get rid of Bruce Willis by sending him to deal with killer asteroids with like serious equipment man--like poke it with a stick, man!! Waaay out there! Far out man! Hey wtf man no double puffs~!
Asteroids are relics from early solar system formation, McKay pointed out. "Then there's the whole, what I call the 'Bruce Willis factor'...the star in the movie Armageddon...and the ability to send significant assets to an asteroid."
You fail to see the deal. They are essentially cross-licensing with Novell. Which means they are using Novell as a proxy to acquire Linux IP. This shouldn't be possible with the GPL, but they've done it. I doubt they would just throw half a billion dollars down a rabbit hole to scare a few "hobbists." They are pursuing a longer-term strategy.
I think it's more of Microsoft looking for another player to embrace. In about 6 months it will be time for the last stage of this disease. But unlike you I don't believe that Linux will ever be a platform for proprietary products. The RTFM culture with proprietary make it easy software? HA!
What Linux has and Microsoft is drooling over is developers, developers, devel... Who else would waste their time learning Linux? It's a case of the eagle hunting the fly. I actually think that Microsoft will pull a fast one and try to ride atop Linux like Apple rides OpenBSD. If you think about it, Microsoft has very little to offer Linux; the other way you can already see the dollar signs. Also fits very well with Microsoft's history of innovation. I guess they are just building their "IP bridge" Ballboy kept mentioning in the Novell press conference.
This is the same guy that invented radio, radio control, foresaw the invention of television, radar. Not to mention AC power transmission. Basically as you are sipping your magically created coffee in front of your ghost machine, you fail to realize the extent to which his inventions shape your world. Not to say that all his ideas were fruitful, but one would be quite happy with himself if he achieved at the level this 'crazy nut' did.
And BTW he was nearly broke and was digging trenches for money because the PTO wouldn't recognize his patent on radio. Tragically, they awarded it back to Tesla(a few months after he died) after Marconi sued the US government for not paying royalties during WWI. Not to mention Marconi won the Nobel Prize for his invention. So much for starving inventors and their recognition.
That is partially our fault. I don't see any "techie" lobbies on Capitol Hill. The only place they can turn is big business. Maybe I'm somewhat of a hypocrite but if you want to change the rules, you have to play the game.
What's to stop them from shoving the format down your throat? In other words, as long as they piggyback the format on existing technology it will be hard to reject it. When only TVs made are HD and your TV dies what do you do? When only DVD players made are DVD/HD-DVD and yours dies what do you do?
It's a hard problem for more than one reason. The first is the issue of jurisdiction. How exactly do you hold someone responsible for theft or fraud that is in a another state, or even better--another country? And how exactly are you sure that this is the perpetrator? People in the underground have been using botnets for years to do their bidding, I'm sure they couldn't hide their tracks by some sort of proxy... Not to mention the fact that the IP address used could be dynamically changed by the ISP. See RIAA suing grandmas without computers etc. This whole thing goes back to the issue of identity and IP address. You can't be sure one implies the other without strict technological barriers. I'm not quite sure that erecting such barriers would be a wise idea though. Think of a government like China being able to trace every word on the internet to a particular person. I'm afraid that is the price of Liberty in cyberspace. You just have to take precautions in meatspace.
Slashdot Mirror
What you are talking about sounds like the Baldwin effect. Not that Baldwin. Sigh.
From an IP perspective, seems that they do. And it also seems pretty extensive. From here: Apparently this is nothing new in the arena. Companies use shady patent laws to create 'protection' rackets providing insurance. I guess this is to protect from patent trolls by pooling a lot of patents in one lot. Most companies cross-license patents instead of litigation making an even bigger pool(see IBM). Ironic considering what patents were designed to do, don't you think?
It shouldn't be upconverted since cinemas have plenty of real estate to offer for even future formats. They work at what is called 4K which is at a resolution of 4096 x 2160. 1080p is 1920 x 1080. So you could double the resolution of 1080p and you would get about what you get in cinemas. There's more on this kind of weird HD stuff in my journal.
I don't like it. It's basically a vertical integration of their player, music, and video using their proprietary file formats. I don't know about you, but I would rather buy a standard DVD that I can play anywhere. And why should I buy TV shows I already get and can record via cable? It may be taking off, but it still has a long way to go to reach cruising altitude not to mention the destination: my TV.
http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/unix/
You fail to see the deal. They are essentially cross-licensing with Novell. Which means they are using Novell as a proxy to acquire Linux IP. This shouldn't be possible with the GPL, but they've done it. I doubt they would just throw half a billion dollars down a rabbit hole to scare a few "hobbists." They are pursuing a longer-term strategy.
I think it's more of Microsoft looking for another player to embrace. In about 6 months it will be time for the last stage of this disease. But unlike you I don't believe that Linux will ever be a platform for proprietary products. The RTFM culture with proprietary make it easy software? HA!
What Linux has and Microsoft is drooling over is developers, developers, devel... Who else would waste their time learning Linux? It's a case of the eagle hunting the fly. I actually think that Microsoft will pull a fast one and try to ride atop Linux like Apple rides OpenBSD. If you think about it, Microsoft has very little to offer Linux; the other way you can already see the dollar signs. Also fits very well with Microsoft's history of innovation. I guess they are just building their "IP bridge" Ballboy kept mentioning in the Novell press conference.
This is the same guy that invented radio, radio control, foresaw the invention of television, radar. Not to mention AC power transmission. Basically as you are sipping your magically created coffee in front of your ghost machine, you fail to realize the extent to which his inventions shape your world. Not to say that all his ideas were fruitful, but one would be quite happy with himself if he achieved at the level this 'crazy nut' did.
And BTW he was nearly broke and was digging trenches for money because the PTO wouldn't recognize his patent on radio. Tragically, they awarded it back to Tesla(a few months after he died) after Marconi sued the US government for not paying royalties during WWI. Not to mention Marconi won the Nobel Prize for his invention. So much for starving inventors and their recognition.
Reminds me of this scene. Hope they beta test it...;)
Remember, this is the Korea that we had no exit strategy for...
real-life aimbot
"Liberty is to faction, what air is to fire, an ailment without which it instantly expires." -James Madison
Thank you for that link. It conveniently crashed Firefox.
That is partially our fault. I don't see any "techie" lobbies on Capitol Hill. The only place they can turn is big business. Maybe I'm somewhat of a hypocrite but if you want to change the rules, you have to play the game.
Poignant question from Larry: "Why would someone who is gay take public anti-gay positions? Why would you do that?"
See PS3.
They're around.
What's to stop them from shoving the format down your throat? In other words, as long as they piggyback the format on existing technology it will be hard to reject it. When only TVs made are HD and your TV dies what do you do? When only DVD players made are DVD/HD-DVD and yours dies what do you do?
It's a hard problem for more than one reason. The first is the issue of jurisdiction. How exactly do you hold someone responsible for theft or fraud that is in a another state, or even better--another country? And how exactly are you sure that this is the perpetrator? People in the underground have been using botnets for years to do their bidding, I'm sure they couldn't hide their tracks by some sort of proxy... Not to mention the fact that the IP address used could be dynamically changed by the ISP. See RIAA suing grandmas without computers etc. This whole thing goes back to the issue of identity and IP address. You can't be sure one implies the other without strict technological barriers. I'm not quite sure that erecting such barriers would be a wise idea though. Think of a government like China being able to trace every word on the internet to a particular person. I'm afraid that is the price of Liberty in cyberspace. You just have to take precautions in meatspace.
Already been done.