Microsoft Patent Checkmate
groklaw.net
groklaw.net
AST members include: Verizon, Cisco, Google, Telefon AB L.M., Ericsson, HP. Source:
http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/rich-tehrani/patent/allied-secur...
If "not inviting" OIN was part of the conspiracy, surely a group that included Google shouldn't have been included either.
AST on their website even assert that they don't assert patents against infringers:
> Will AST assert these patents against infringers?
> No. The purpose of AST is to provide the freedom to sell products and cost reduction. Member companies who wish to participate in a particular patent purchase are granted a worldwide non-exclusive patent license.
Source: http://www.alliedsecuritytrust.com/q-and-a.html
This is a non-story.
What I think happened is that Microsoft wanted some quick money out of patents they aren't using anyway (we are in an economic crisis after all), and so they organized a bid failing to invite OIN ... and maybe they did that such that OIN doesn't get them (the patents being acquired by a patent troll being the ideal scenario).
But that's not an "evil conspiracy". And I'm getting pretty tired of Groklaw and FSF crying wolf every time MS farts.
As they say, your real enemies are the ones you hate. You want to change the status quo? Competition and collaboration are the best tools you have. Not FUD.
I'd say it's a pretty shitty thing to do and, while you can't prove what the motive was, Microsoft has a history of doing equally shitty things to damage its competitors (and collaborators!).
If they sell them to patent trolls, which I don't know if they do but seems quite likely, then their members are protected, but no-one else is.
OIN appear to hold onto the patents for defensive use, but also taking them out of play for trolls.
On the other hand, the head of AST seems to also run a business based on providing information to fight back against patent trolls (PatentFreedom) so it would be a bit of a poacher/gamekeeper move for them to sell to trolls, particularly after they called out IntellectualVentures for doing the same.
But maybe patent freedom (for those who can afford it) is their real business plan. I'm not saying that's "evil" but it doesn't do anything to protect anyone who's not playing the game in the same way patent reform would, and at the same time reduces the need for patent reform amongst the biggest companies.
"We don't want to sue Linux, but we want to make them pay...Hmmm, what if we 'auction' these patents, knowing they're of most value to OIN etc so a related organisation will pay top dollar."
It's probably not as much money as a massive lawsuit, but it's much cleaner, and doesn't tarnish the reputation or line lawyer pockets.
Regardless of their intent, there is no way MS will ever get any positive reaction from the majority of the "open source community" (I use that term lightly - I think everyone who reads this will know which, very vocal parties I mean though).
It's hard to do business with people who are constantly demonizing you. Is it any surprise MS wont make much of an effort engaging with such parties?
Patents + Linux = PR disaster for MS no matter what. The best they could ever do is minimize the damage.
Wow, Microsoft really got screwed up again...
By buying up these patents effectively the message is we respect the authority these patents pretend to convey.
I've had the video patent trolls after me for a while, they wanted a piece of the action on ww.com because of their broad ranging patent on 'video over the internet'.
I told them to put up and sue or go away (only in less nice terms). I never heard from them again.
It's nice that big companies like Oracle and IBM carry a torch for open source. But that's only because they realize that in the long run the days of closed source software are numbered.
There is no such thing as software patent infringement, there is such a thing as a software copyright violation.
Software is the ultimate vehicle to embody ideas in strings of numbers, your unique string is yours, the ideas embodied in that string are public domain the moment you publish.
If you do not want that then please, do not publish and keep your secrets to yourself. The world will be a better place because of it.
Any company that ever sued because of a software patent was a patent troll, no single software patent ever awarded should have been awarded in the first place.
And don't get me started about patents on genes.
"The Open Invention Network (OIN) learned recently that Microsoft was planning to auction off some of its software patents, which we understand it marketed to trolls and some other non-practicing entities. It also used marketing materials that highlighted offensive uses of the patents against open source software, including a number of the most popular open source packages."
http://press.redhat.com/2009/09/09/microsoft-and-patent-trol...
So these patents probably don't apply to the Linux kernel, but may apply to other open-source software.
Also why wouldn't Intellectual ventures have just inherited of them? Seems like they would be perfect people to do the evil deed.
It may have been coencidence that linux got the stuff, it may be that AST made a profit buying and re-selling. In any case while MS might be evil we definately got another kind of evil sitting on the other fence keeping MS in check.
Nothing to see here, move along.