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Comment by pointyhatuk | Hacker News Reader

Why Microsoft is involved I don't know. I know their market share of windows phone is a bit crappy [1], but posturing themselves as opponents to Android isn't going to help their image either to the industry or the public and therefore their market share.

I would have thought they'd get the point by now and stop acting like asshats.

Oh and unsurprising SCO mention. This crap has been going on behind the scenes forever.

Watching the corporate battleground is tiresome and makes me drift away from all parties.

[1] I own a windows phone before anyone marks me up as a hater.

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>windows phone is a bit crappy

I think it is rising up, especially in the Asian market. From the business point of view, the best thing they did was to partner with Nokia. If it wasn't for Lumia, I don't think I would got a windows phone.

>Why Microsoft is involved I don't know.

I think it has more to do with "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". They hold the grudge against Google for cutting windows phone from Youtube Api, Google Maps, Calender, the whole exchange debacle.. etc. I hate all these corporate fights, because at the end its not them but us who lose the most.

Presumably they're involved because they have a number of APIs, and they believe that APIs should be copyrightable. I don't think they would take a position on this issue due to an opposition to Google alone.

Presumably they're involved because they have a number of APIs, and they believe that APIs should be copyrightable.

Minor correction: they believe it's in their best interests that APIs should be copyrightable.

I agree that we can't infer their true beliefs (to the extent it even makes sense to talk about a corporation's beliefs), but I think the position that APIs should be subject to copyright is actually reasonable (though IANAL).

> Why Microsoft is involved I don't know.

They want to kill Android so they can keep their old business model and get the world to license WP instead.

While I'm sure they'd love for Android to die, I don't think that explains this brief. In what percentage of the cases involving Android has Microsoft filed an amicus brief? It's much more likely that they care about the actual issue in this case (whether APIs are subject to copyright).

Microsoft is not shy about "posturing themselves as opponents to Android", and has been doing so for a long time. It's not really a surprise here.

IIRC MSFT gets paid a royalty of $10~$15 per copy of Android deployed by carriers, so they do have a hedge.

(Though the fact that they have that hedge in place at all is proof that they are "opponents of Android" which they naturally have to be given their agenda. That makes me think though, is there anything preventing them from jacking up that price 2-3x once WinPhone 8 launches?)

Though weirdly they are also complaining to the EU that Google is competing unfairly by selling Android below cost. How you can say that about a product you yourself are charging 15 bucks for is beyond me (disclosure, I think that figure is mostly Microsoft PR/FUD to scare people away from android. Not very successful though.)

I think MSFT will prefer power (market dominance) over money any day of the week.

>Microsoft is not shy about "posturing themselves as opponents to Android".

So does Apple. The business world is as nasty as politics, everyone pretends to care for the users, no one really does.

Close. Really: everything is politics (aka human nature).

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