“If you were Sony or Philips and you found that Microsoft had been not just using technology that you invented to invade your markets, but had been giving it away, would you want to sue or negotiate? That appears to be the decision that confronts these and other Consumer Electronics giants, as they weigh up the information that the video codec in Microsoft’s Windows Media player rests on their own patents,” Faultline reports.
“If there is a legal action this time it will set the entire US trade effort at the throats of the rest of the world, chilling US-Japanese trade relations and potentially leading to Microsoft being unceremoniously ejected from the world of digital media,” Faultline reports. “Faultline has consistently pointed out that the bundling of Media Player, in order to force it as a standard, first on the PC world and subsequently the consumer electronics sector, was always in breach of the principles of antitrust law. But if it turns out that the bulk of the technology is stolen and not even attributed to its owners, then the crime goes up in magnitude by several notches… It’s not for us to decide whether Microsoft invented any of these techniques first, or whether Philips and Sony will actually file suits, but making the assumption, for now, that both of these events come to pass, we can look at how the future of digital media might pan out.”
Full article here.
[UPDATE: 5:55pm ET – fixed headline typo]
What’s new . . . MSN stealing software and claiming to be the “leader in digital media”. I hope they burn for this
So whats new MDN?
You sleep with dogs and your are likely to get fleas.
All I can say is, “wow.”
if you didn’t read the full artical i suggest you do. Looks bad for microshit if this goes down.
Well Microsoft wants to rule/own the medium by which we communicate— nothing new here. That Microsft steals other people’s ideas to create,reinforce and expand it’s monopoly pratices—nothing new here.
Ahh you have attempted to steal from old money, now that could get you into deep water. Third strike you’re out. May Microsoft (and Bill personally) be garroted ASAP.
If either of these companies had any evidence that this was going on, I hardly think they would waste any time considering. Once they are aware of an issue, they have to protect their intellectual property or they could lose it.
It does sound like Faultline is a bit biased (much like MDN) so the information has to be taken with a pinch of salt.
I would love M$ to be sued big time, but I’m not too sure this info is kosher.
misleading headline. Suggests that Sony and Phillips are suing Microsoft. Doubtful that they would. It’d be a lot cheaper and smarter to let MS license whatever they’ve appropriated, if indeed they’ve taken anything. Why spend millions duking it out in court when could earn just as much from royalties?
Theft is the greatest form of flattery.
Or something like that.
I’d think Sony would really look at this. I mean, Sony would love to stick it to Microsoft. Forget about the royalties, make Microsoft kill Media Player and Sony would do us all a favor.
PS2 Vs. XBox, ATRAC Vs. WMA, I think Sony would like to embarrass MS.
Can Microsoft get away with it forever? Stealing one thing after another, they’ve built a business out of it like a gangster from the 20’s and 30’s. Someday they have to meet their match, someone who can beat them in court. It is a crying shame that someone has to have millions if not 10’s of millions (maybe more?) to win a court case against a company like Microsoft, even though it cut and dried that they steal things. Our (American) legal system really sucks. Does anyone know how Blast vs Microsft is doing? Last I heard Blast’s attorneys had MS’s media player by the balls already. Anyone know?
MDN you need spell check – or typing lessons …
“INFINGMENT” – it’s in the story’s title for crying out loud – don’t you read before you post?!
Magic Word: “times” – as in, with money being ripped out of education and social services, times are a changing – but not for the better … better go reserve my cardboard box.
And just for the record, Philips is a Dutch company, so this takes the trade situation back to Europe as well, one place MS can’t seem to intimidate to the extent it can here.
oh this is too good. I want more stories about this.
Wasn’t MS found to have stolen Quicktime code a few years back?
Wasn’t some of MS’s undisclosed payments to Apple when SJ took over thought to be to help pay this off?
Seems like it’s happening all over again.
MS will settle.
I wasn’t going to comment, but my “magic word” is just too freaky- it’s “justice”. Here’s to hoping…
Shows you how smart Apple has been to stick with open standards like the h.264 codec … The president of Sony did not look the least bit adversarial onstage at the MW2005 Keynote, to put it mildly.
C’mon, show us your huevos: Sue them in a European court. Or settle for muchísimo dinero. Or bend over with a tube of grease.
This is total bullshit. MS IS the standard. The others are just second-rate wanna-be’s.
It’s time to dance: http://www.tarmo.fi/arc/monkeydance.mpeg
If this pans out the way the writer is implying M$ lawyer will have their hands full. They should try it in a court outside the US though. We have seen what happens when M$ gets tried in America.
Microsoft has been doing this type of stuff for years. Usually they just buy-off the little companies years later.
But maybe this time they went too far. Screwed over a company big enough not to be out-spent, and that has a lot to gain by winning the case–beyond money.
ummm…you guys try to sue a company with $50 BILLION in the bank.
If M$ can outfox the US Gov’t for cryin out loud, it can outfox the other two.
Like others have said, this would not be worth the protracted fight.
companies with billion$ in the bank can always ‘outfox’ the US Gov.
it would not be worth the protracted fight
Do you know how much M$ has paid out in the last two years? Rich enough to pay, embarrassed enough to try to conceal their dirty underwear … they’ll pay … or MDN will be buzzing at the revelations for a number of years.
I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to say that my “Magic Word” is rather.
As in I would “rather” eat worms than see another post saying something so juvenile as “hey my magic word is…”
Get over it already.