[LINK] Update: Microsoft wants royalties for open-source software

Kim Holburn kim at holburn.net
Tue May 15 05:18:13 AEST 2007


I'll bet it does.

<http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do? 
command=printArticleBasic&articleId=9019238>

> Update: Microsoft wants royalties for open-source software
> Eric Lai and Sumner Lemon
>
>
> May 13, 2007 (Computerworld) Microsoft Corp. on Sunday confirmed  
> reports that it believes open-source software users owe the company  
> royalties on 235 alleged patent violations.
>
> In an interview with Fortune magazine, Brad Smith, Microsoft's  
> general counsel, and Horacio Gutierrez, the company's vice  
> president of intellectual property and licensing, said open-souce  
> software, including Linux, violates 235 Microsoft patents. And  
> Microsoft wants distributors and users of open-souce software to  
> start paying royalties for these alleged violations.
>
> "This is not a case of some accidental, unknowing  
> infringement. ...There is an overwhelming number of patents being  
> infringed," Gutierrez said.
>
> Microsoft executives in Singapore were not immediately available to  
> comment on the article.
>
> However, according to in an e-mail received by Computerworld late  
> Sunday night, a Microsoft spokesman said the company was motivated  
> to speak over concerns that the latest draft of the General Public  
> License version 3, which governs distribution and use of Linux and  
> many other open-source software, "attempts to tear down the bridge  
> between proprietary and open source technology that Microsoft has  
> worked to build with the industry and customers."
>
> "The Free Software Foundation’s efforts with GPLv3 while not  
> harming existing contracts can harm the desired interoperability  
> and open exchange that we have increasingly seen between  
> proprietary and open source over the past several years," he wrote.
>
> The spokesman pointed out that a free software group called the  
> Open Source Risk Management Group itself had confirmed via an  
> August 2004 study (PDF format) that Linux could be in violation of  
> 283 patents, though none of those patents had been proven in court  
> at the time.
>
> He also said that Microsoft’s "longstanding preference is to  
> license rather than litigate and Microsoft’s work over the past  
> three years to build a bridge with open source is a result of that  
> commitment."

Over the past 3 years?  Build a bridge with open source?  A bridge to  
extort money out of other people's work.

This is interesting though:
> Smith broke down the alleged patent violations during the Fortune  
> interview, saying the Linux kernel violates 42 patents and the  
> operating system's user interface violates a further 65.

Hmmm...  Linux can run without a user interface and it has a number  
of different possibilities for "user interfaces" so what is this about?

> He went on to claim that the Open Office application suite violates  
> 45 patents

Many linux systems don't use open office.  For desktop users there  
are alternatives.

> and open-source e-mail applications infringe on 15 more.

There are many many open-source email clients, some have been around  
for a very long time even before Microsoft products had connectivity  
at all.

> Other open-source software applications infringe on 68 patents,  
> Smith said.

So all up, they are alleging "Linux" violates 45 patents not 283 at all.

> Microsoft has been laying the groundwork for patent claims against  
> Linux and open-source software for some time. Most notably, the  
> Redmond, Washington, software company signed a Linux deal with  
> Novell Inc. that indemnifies the company against Microsoft patent  
> claims over Linux. Last week, Dell Inc. joined the deal, becoming  
> the first hardware vendor to do so.
>
> Microsoft has struck other deals with hardware makers. In April,  
> Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Microsoft signed a cross-licensing  
> agreement that included a clause that indemnified Samsung against  
> Linux patent claims.

Nasty.

--
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
Ph: +39 06 855 4294  M: +39 3494957443
mailto:kim at holburn.net  aim://kimholburn
skype://kholburn - PGP Public Key on request

Democracy imposed from without is the severest form of tyranny.
                           -- Lloyd Biggle, Jr. Analog, Apr 1961







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