Comments on: More links on Microsoft’s FOSS War http://shebanator.com/2007/05/15/more-links-on-microsofts-foss-war/ Thoughts on Dynamic Languages, Web Apps, and more Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:42:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: tecosystems » links for 2007-05-16 http://shebanator.com/2007/05/15/more-links-on-microsofts-foss-war/comment-page-1/#comment-371 tecosystems » links for 2007-05-16 Wed, 16 May 2007 05:34:58 +0000 http://shebanation.com/2007/05/15/more-links-on-microsofts-foss-war/#comment-371 [...] More links on Microsoft’s FOSS War « Shebanation “Finally we have Steven O’Grady of Redmonk doing one of his trademark Q&A discussions. Its great stuff, and though he does try to walk a fine to not offend Microsoft (one of his customers)” - interesting, it apparently reads as less harsh than i thought (tags: redmonk andrewshebanow Microsoft patents Fortune) [...] [...] More links on Microsoft’s FOSS War « Shebanation “Finally we have Steven O’Grady of Redmonk doing one of his trademark Q&A discussions. Its great stuff, and though he does try to walk a fine to not offend Microsoft (one of his customers)” – interesting, it apparently reads as less harsh than i thought (tags: redmonk andrewshebanow Microsoft patents Fortune) [...]

]]> By: ashebanow http://shebanator.com/2007/05/15/more-links-on-microsofts-foss-war/comment-page-1/#comment-320 ashebanow Tue, 15 May 2007 19:26:55 +0000 http://shebanation.com/2007/05/15/more-links-on-microsofts-foss-war/#comment-320 I don't think they're pulling it out of their bum - I'm sure they did a very detailed survey to find as many infringements as they could. Whether those are actually real infringements that would hold up in court is another story. But the real issue here isn't some raft of lawsuits that are coming. Instead, its the shakedowns. Microsoft says some customers are already paying them, Novell is paying them, and some OEMs as well. Microsoft will just send their black-hatted lawyers out to pry money out of people without filing lawsuits. Much safer and more lucrative than actually filing suit. (IBM has done similar things for years, but not targeting open source - check google for "IBM patent extortion"). I personally feel this will backfire on Microsoft and customers will revolt. But maybe this is a false hope. I don’t think they’re pulling it out of their bum – I’m sure they did a very detailed survey to find as many infringements as they could. Whether those are actually real infringements that would hold up in court is another story.

But the real issue here isn’t some raft of lawsuits that are coming. Instead, its the shakedowns. Microsoft says some customers are already paying them, Novell is paying them, and some OEMs as well. Microsoft will just send their black-hatted lawyers out to pry money out of people without filing lawsuits. Much safer and more lucrative than actually filing suit. (IBM has done similar things for years, but not targeting open source – check google for “IBM patent extortion”).

I personally feel this will backfire on Microsoft and customers will revolt. But maybe this is a false hope.

]]> By: Rosyna http://shebanator.com/2007/05/15/more-links-on-microsofts-foss-war/comment-page-1/#comment-319 Rosyna Tue, 15 May 2007 18:38:26 +0000 http://shebanation.com/2007/05/15/more-links-on-microsofts-foss-war/#comment-319 Remember, MS refuses to list any of the patents for fear that the FOSS community will find ways to invalidate them. So for now, the number is just something MS is pulling out of their bum. Remember, MS refuses to list any of the patents for fear that the FOSS community will find ways to invalidate them. So for now, the number is just something MS is pulling out of their bum.

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