“Microsoft claims that free software like Linux, which runs a big chunk of corporate America, violates 235 of its patents. It wants royalties from distributors and users. Users like you, maybe,” Roger Parloff reports for Fortune.
“There’s a shadow hanging over Linux and other free software, and it’s being cast by Microsoft. The Redmond behemoth asserts that one reason free software is of such high quality is that it violates more than 200 of Microsoft’s patents. And as a mature company facing unfavorable market trends and fearsome competitors like Google, Microsoft is pulling no punches: It wants royalties. If the company gets its way, free software won’t be free anymore,” Parloff reports.
Parloff reports, “The conflict pits Microsoft and its dogged CEO, Steve Ballmer, against the ‘free world’ – people who believe software is pure knowledge.”
“Caught in the middle are big corporate Linux users like Wal-Mart, AIG, and Goldman Sachs. Free-worlders say that if Microsoft prevails, the whole quirky ecosystem that produced Linux and other free and open-source software (FOSS) will be undermined,” Parloff reports.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Microsoft is in a much shakier position than Ballmer, Gates, or large holders of MSFT would like anyone to believe. Contrary to popular belief, it can all come crashing down rather quickly; even as it’s being methodically dismantled today. It’s not only on this open source issue; Microsoft is being attacked on many fronts. Microsoft is lashing out in fear, yet again – like the big, stupid, cornered dinosaur that it is.
Those who think it’s Google, Google, Google, with a bit of Linux thrown in for good measure amuse us; ’tis Apple that Microsoft fears most – or should fear most (besides karma, of course), if they had adequate management that wasn’t blinded by hubris, headed by an uncouth used car salesman plucked by fate and random dorm assignment to front an immoral purveyor of global mediocrity, and therefore unable to accurately assess risk.
Yeh, if by patent ya’ mean CrRRrrRRrAAAAAaAAaAAp!
Am I wrong when I think this is good news for Apple?
I thought royalties are paid based on a percentage of what a product is sold for. Even if they had 100% royalties from Linux, doesn’t that mean they get 100% of nothing?
and how many patents of other companies is microsoft violating.
and does ms cares if it violates other companies patents, no. their attitude is let them sue ms and ms will grind them up with lawyer fees and court cost and drag their lawsuite out for decades.
Same strategy as the music player makers: If you can’t compete, sue!
As always see Groklaw for a reasoned perspective and comments on patent law and linux.
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20070513234519615
“The Redmond behemoth asserts that one reason free software is of such high quality is that it violates more than 200 of Microsoft’s patents.”
Then why isn’t Microsoft’s own software of the same high quality???
How can Micro$oft recover…simply make something that works good. Quit making money and start making products. Quit being businessmen and start being innovators. Start knowing people so you can start knowing what people need.
Henri Witteveen, amen to that brotha!
If MS has tens of thousands of employees and cannot produce software that out competes free OSS competition though higher quality, what does that say about MS?
MS is truly the wastebin of technology where the lowest common denominator rules, and intelligent capable people are sucked in like a black hole and never come out again with anything worthwhile.. good ideas from people in MS enter some alternate dimention of pure beaurocratic grativy that sucks them in and crushes the life out of them til they have little resemblance to their original selves.
Only when products fail to generate any excitement whatsoever, and are completely bland and tasteless and lacking in any sense of style, consistancy or elegance are they allowed to ship with an MS branded logo.
Microsoft’s next move.
Claim that “Free” is bad for the economy, anti-capitalism, supports terrorism and therefore should be made illegal.
Looks like the SCO maneuver didn’t pan out, and Big Brown has to start working without proxies.
Great link Gandalf. Thanks.
Thanks for the link, Gandalf
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Doubtful that infringements are to make anything BETTER.
They’re just to make things WORK with the (illegal monopoly) purveyer of Windows software.
MS would rather nothing at all competed with Windows.
Wait till Ballmer’s uncle will get the Zune and the first social network will get functional. First squirted song: “For whom the bell tolls”.
And: starting from now, no more double-clicks, MS holds the patent for this innovation.
I remember a story involving a particular dispute between Microsoft and IBM. In one critical meeting, IBM’s lawyers opened a large folder of patents that Microsoft appeared to be violating. Microsoft was a lot more accomodating after that.
Microsoft doesn’t have much of a leg to stand on. It has a history of stealing the works of others, then quietly settling for lots of money to make the matters go away. And many of its patents are of a questionable nature.
In the early 80’s Bill Gates used to appear on stage with other minor players of the budding computer business, like Kapor or Norton. The world will be better when Microsoft becomes just another “bit player”, like they were meant to be.
I’d really like to see some people step up to the plate and give MS a huge black eye over this one. MS is truly afraid of OSS, I would like to see them get bloodied up over this and run out of court limping.
Of course the army of MS patent lawyers would make my dream hard to see through to reality, but I can always dream! At the very least if WalMart and a number of other big players are facing this issue there definitely could be some money on the table for someone who wanted to really take the fight to MS.
Henri Witteveen…
Darn straight!
How MSFT can make this claim with a straight face when they know that they stole the BSD network stack for Windows 2000 and Windows XP beggars belief.
But like SCO’s claims from several years ago, here’s a challenge…
PROVE IT
If MSFT genuinely believes its IP is being violated, it should prove it in a court of law and we can all share in the wonder of how MSFT is being victimised by the FOSS movement. Heck, give me some time to finish my current project and I’ll get myself a big bag of popcorn and turn up every day at the trial.
This is FUD, pure and simple. Don’t invest in Linux, because we’ll come after you for secondary licensing fees. Don’t invest in Linux because it might not be around after we’ve finished with it in court.
SCO all over again. Whatever happened to them? Wasn’t Microsoft backing there stupidity as well?
If MS is successful in destroying LINUX, there could be secondary damage to MS in the form of a backlash that could do more damage to MS than LINUX itself. Potentially some laws changing how patents work, esp coming from monopolies.
Case in point. Say MS has patents covering how their office documents work, but because those documents are now industry standard, if LINUX wants to be able to interoperate with them they have to potentially violate MS patents so they can be compatible. If MS succeeds in suing LINUX for being compatible, there could be changes in laws that require MS to open its patents that involve interoperability because of its monopoly position, and MS could end up losing control of its own formats.
It can’t happen you say? Well, lets just see MS win this round against LINUX and see where all the fallout lands.
“Microsoft is being attacked on many fronts. Microsoft is lashing out in fear, yet again – like the big, stupid dinosaur that it is.”
So once again we see a demonstration that evolution is not simply survival of the fittest. Being the biggest and baddest in the forest in no way assures survival.
MDN says, “Those who think it’s Google, Google, Google, with a bit of Linux thrown in for good measure amuse us; ’tis Apple that Microsoft fears most …” Yes, and I have mixed feelings about the fact that the article does not mention Apple.
@aCe, I love this possibility, that would/could be the ultimate harbinger of the power-mongering insanity that MS has become.
And in conclusion: Ah yes, corporate fascism – Kind of makes me have to choke down my coffee first thing on a Monday morning, but, there you have it. But of course, as we slowly but surely put MS in its place, let us not forget who’s really responsible for willing handing the keys to our collective souls over to it [MS] – yes that would be you and me I’m talking about. Moral of story, let’s not ever let this happen again as long as there is a free America to buy, sell and trade in. IBM was enough, MS is – is, … Well, I can’t find adjectives adequate to the task. But by now I hope its needless to say that, its up to the consumer to never ever believe that there’s just one way to do things. Have we learned our lesson? Hmmm?
“…headed by an uncouth used car salesman plucked by fate and random dorm assignment to front an immoral purveyor of global mediocrity, and therefore unable to accurately assess risk.”
MDN, that is one of the best things that I have ever read! LOL
In other news, Microsoft claims that free software causes glogal warming and violates gay rights.
See what happens when you use Microsoft spell checker? And the earth just went up another degree due to open source glgal warming…damn….the MS speel checquer strikes agin.
“The Redmond behemoth asserts that one reason free software is of such high quality is that it violates more than 200 of Microsoft’s patents.”
<spit take> Where are my screen wipes?
Japan thought that switching to Linux would be better, but now find out that Linux is Windows long lost sibling with the same recessive genes.
“The Redmond behemoth asserts that one reason free software is of such high quality is that it violates more than 200 of Microsoft’s patents.”
there seems to be a typo. please replace “high” with “low”. MS repeatedly tells us that linux isn’t as good as windows.
wait, linux is high compared to MS, so i guess it was right….
….but then how did it come from MS if that is a low quality…..
…head… ready….to…… explode!
wait, could it be that (gasp) microsoft lied?!?
Groklaw’s article was very interesting. Among other things the article state that, “5. To actually sue, Microsoft has to sue its own customers. Microsoft itself has told us that its customers mostly use Linux too in a mixed environment. I believe SCO can provide them a useful example of how well it works out when you sue your own customers. I just can’t believe Microsoft would do it. “
Sad thing is, (sad for MS), that it seems apparent to me that MS has gone so far off of the proverbial deep end already, that there is no telling what they will try next – no telling at all. They have lived so drunk on power for so long that they actually do perceive themselves as being totally invincible. This latest threat is only the tip of the iceberg of what we’re going to see coming from MS before it’s all over. We are going to watch one of my favorite altruism come true right before our very eyes, THE BIGGER THEY ARE THE HARDER (AND FARTHER) THEY FALL.
@pleterdebecker
In fact, you are wrong. An attack to Linux is an attack to the GNU (which is what M$ is seeking), and remember, Mac OS X has A LOT of GNU in it (starting with the Darwin kernel)
This is not good for anybody. Now again, it is baseless and pointless. SCO already tried it and they are losing big time.
There are some battles not even Microsoft is big enough to win, despite of all of their power. They have NO BASIS claiming patents.
This is interesting reading:
http://www.showusthecode.com/
One important thing is, Linux works well and it’s stable. Windows is a piece of Zune. If anbody needs to steal patents, that is Microsoft, not Linux.
Gandalf
The Groklaw site is interesting to read. With the Japanese government moving to Linux I wonder if M$ is even more stressed out. Is M$ trying to say they are bigger than a government? May Ballmer be gutted!
MDN Take: “Contrary to popular belief, it can all come crashing down rather quickly”.
Define “rather quickly”, please. A month? A year? A decade? If you mean the last of the three, sure. MS could be demoted to “minor player” status simply by market forces in that time frame. They would have to continue to collude, though. Continue to lose at a game of catch-up. If the half of the market that isn’t panicked at the thought of trying Linux (or OSX) switched this year, and half the remainder next, etc, it would take half that long for MS to reach the Mac’s current market share. Most of it lost to Linux distributions? Apple doesn’t even really compete in the sub-$1,000 market for systems, where most of the action is.
Let’s be a little realistic, OK? In order for MS to fall, another must rise to take its place. Apple, under Jobs, will not be that other. Even if it rises to be #1 in market share, #2-5 will be more significant overall. I just don’t see Linux on every home desktop in America. Could be wrong, but I don’t see it. They would need to progress as rapidly in the coming decade as they did in the last one, and that’s not likely. Not impossible, but not likely.
DLMeyer – the Voice of G.L.Horton’s Stage Page Pod Cast
Another steaming pile of patent law.
Like the man said, if MS think they have a case they should sue. Otherwise put up and shut up.
I wonder if Ballmer bought Nixon’s old bomb shelter/isolate-me-from-the-truth bunker.
Thanks for changing ‘that’ with ‘than’ MDN.
OK Microsoft – PROVE IT!
List the 200 patents that open source software is using.
Put your money where your mouth is!
This is just a scare tactic.
Microsoft has NO grounds for that statement.
I say take it to court and lets see the global open source community beat Microsoft.
Whether they like it or not, Microsoft is a dying company, they cannot innovate, compete or have teh talent, inspiration and forward thinking to compete in the modern business world.
Every company I deal with is sick to death of Microsoft’s stranglehold on the systems and software that they use.
The world is changing, people want choice!
Lack of inovation tends to breed litigation. It’s really sad to watch a once powerful US company produce such crap.
Patents, like, “clicking on button” and “A plus B equals C”?
These claims, like almost all patent claims these days, are guaranteed to be absurd.
Magic Word: “How”, as in “how long before the US Patent Office is fixed?”
This is just FUD. It will go nowhere and even M$ know it.
However, there are some lawyers about to get very rich
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I knew i should have trained to be a Lawyer!
I bet there are some Lawyers out there that are millionaires because of Microsoft.
Also, it’s important to remember that what the market calls “Linux” in a big bunch of projects tied together.
“Linux” is the kernel ONLY. So, where are the patent infringements? In the kernel? GUI? Networking? protocols? Where?
If it’s GUI, perhaps they should sue the KDE or GNOME teams, if networking, the Samba Team. I mean, the GNU world is composed of sooooo many elements, I doubt Microsoft even know where to sue. Come on, if they can’t even put an OS together….
If you haven’t read “The Cathedral and the Bazaar”, you need to now.
Eric S. Raymond released the first version of it on May 21, 1997. It is very prophetic. He talks about how Microsoft would eventually resort to lawsuits over patents against the open-source movement.
http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/cathedral-bazaar/
Reminds me of SCO. Didn’t Microsoft back SCO in there lawsuits? Whatever happened to that anyways? This is really a move of desperation it sounds like on Microsoft’s part.
My bust. It wasn’t “The Cathedral and the Bazaar” I am referring to, although you should read it anyway, its the “Halloween Documents”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_documents
Last two months. All I’ve been reading has been “Big Linux Project Here”, “Big Linux Project There” and “Linux Seems Soon To Be Everywhere”.
And they all said “We don’t want to renew the M$ license, since Linux is easier to maintain”.
Apple, Sun, Suse, Red Hat and others should co-operate more and start playing with matches. Microshit is house made out of paper, kept up only by big stacks of coins. And boy has MSFT been spendin’ ’em…
I disagree with the MDN take: Apple is not what MS should fear most – a workable alternative to Windows on current PCs (what Linux is trying to achive) is what MS should (and probably does) fear most.
Apple makes the best consumer personal computers and software to run on the hardware they make. But this limits Apple to the people that realize this, and excludes them from the people who just want the cheapest alternative. This is how MS built their empire – by offering something just good enough for a cheaper price on cheaper hardware. They cornered the market on cheapskates, if you will.
Linux threatens MS because they are even cheaper than MS. And MS can’t compete against free. Linux doesn’t even need to be better than Windows, it just needs to be good enough and it will erode Windows marketshare. Of course Apple will too, but at least MS can sell Office to the Mac users. They can’ t sell any copies of Office to Linux users.
You will really know its “game over” if MS ever announces a version of Office for Linux. But don’t hold your breath.
JMHO.
This is indeed The Dark Age of Personal Computing!
The bottom line is that all this Linux publicity is a great thing. I want the best computers going, and right now Apple makes them. Microsoft dont seem to be able to come with anything that cool really so I honestly dont care if they go down the tubes. Linuz at least has potential to be a worthy competitor of Apple at some stage and thats fine by me.
And as a mature company facing unfavorable market trends…
I know patent laws are purposely confusing, but that one right there was a pure paradox.
1. Mature companies don’t lie to live, but does Microsoft (hereafter called “Crimosoft”) ever tell the truth? They’ve thrashed Linux enough (e.g. Linux costs much more than Windows), but mature companies would’ve stopped by now.
2. Unfavorable market trends never get more than 90% of America’s dimwits, so why should Crimosoft? XP had semi-okay quality, and that would have been an unfavorable market trend, had Crimosoft not been in charge of XP.
3. Neither mature companies nor unfavorable market trends hoard money by the billions, so is Crimosoft some unusual case? The sad answer is yes: almost no one else (maybe IRS) has a sinister power to summon money without doing anything.
4. Mature companies just don’t enter too many unfavorable market trends, but if Crimosoft can play keepaway with their money, then why can’t they break that rule too? Surely the “Portable Media Center” was an unfavorable market trend.
AAAAH!!! PARADOX!!!! WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!!!!!!
Score negative one (thousand) for Crimosoft.
MW: basic … sure wish it was.
Considering how much software Microsoft have lifted from other companies, they will be lucky to win their claim.
Yes they bought out several companies in the past and incorporated their software into theres, but take the case of WORDPERFECT.
They bought the company, copied (I believe) Apples menu into it and renamed it Microsoft word.
They then sold WORDPERFECT to Corel who promptly combined it with CorelDraw and called it WORDPERFECT Corel.
Who in that scenario however imperfect my argument is the owner of the patent if at all WP has been patented?
If some code from WP has found its way into OpenOffice who will have to pay for that?
LINUX? I think most of us know that NETSCAPE where the first to actually write software to bring the NET to all mankind and Microsoft had a big hand in killing it off by flooding the World with IE for free.
How do we know that M$ did not take code from Netscape and include it into IE. You CANNOT Patent anything that is already out in the open, so how can they claim patent rights for any code in IE that came about as a result of Netscapse endeavours?
Mr. Gates has been quoted widely as syaing he did not think the Internet was going to be a success and therfor he was not interested in it, later he changed his mind & the rest is history. With that pedigree, how can M$ claim patents on coding to bring the Internet to mankind?
Geeeee Wizzzzzzz! the mind BOGGLES!
Hence the mispelling! Sorry Folks
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The one thing you don’t see Microsoft doing in all this is: saying exactly what patents are being violated, and where.
If they did, their claims would be scrutinised.
They would be found to be true, or not true.
If true, the Linux community would respond and fix the problem – find other ways to do things. Possibly even overnight. That’s how open source works. Microsoft would lose all FUD value from its claims.
The ONLY value this has for Microsoft is FUD. And it can only work by being dark and ominous without actually being specific. So the only Linux users have to fear is fear itself
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“it wants royalties from distributors and users. Users like you, maybe.”
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They won’t find any M$ “software” in my house.
Ballmer, born in March 1956, grew up near Detroit, where his father worked as a manager at Ford Motor Co. He graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and economics. While in college, Ballmer managed the football team, worked on the Harvard Crimson newspaper as well as the university literary magazine and roomed down the hall from fellow sophomore Gates. http://www.thocp.net/biographies/ballmer_steve.html
Whether Microsoft wins or loses this case, they will be damaged even more.
Winning will not gain them many customers. At least, not happy ones.
@DLMeyer
That’s an interesting scenario you paint in the last part of your post. Not even a year ago some of the pro-Apple optimism painted a future where Apple would be the OS of the home and pro-creative CG arts, and MS would settle for being the default business OS – I was never ok with that contrivance.
Even though I would like to see Apple compete hard in the enterprise sector, I think having Linux in the workplace in a big way, along with OS X, will help instigate what enterprise desktop computing has never really had in the U.S. – real head-to-head competition. And in the long run, my dream is still to see new viable oses come to market and keep the spirit and purpose of competition alive among the many rather than the few.
Grifterus sez “In fact, you are wrong. An attack to Linux is an attack to the GNU (which is what M$ is seeking), and remember, Mac OS X has A LOT of GNU in it (starting with the Darwin kernel)”
Actually, Darwin is based on BSD, not Gnu. Different critter entirely.