On 5/14/07, der.hans <PLUGd@lufthans.com> wrote:

moin moin,

Microsoft hasn't come through on what patents are being used because once
they do it will be shown that Microsoft is wrong about the patent use (
invalid patents, patents not actually being used, etc. ) or the Free
Software community will work around the patents.

Its definately a tactic to scare all the IT management amoebas from migrating away from Microsoft, a trend that has been accelerating for the past few years.

Maybe software patents will even finally be thrown out. Software patents
aren't valid in Europe, China or India[0],

Hold on, are you sure about that? I don't know what the current EU ruling is, but I know that M$ has heavily lobbied the EU on the SP issue. http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/ . The problem is a severe one for Microsoft, because I can host a web site free from patent encumbrance in one of these countries for much the same cost as I could here in the US (and they have no jurisdiction or even legal framework for prosecuting a site that violates US patent law but is located outside of the US).

so the Microsoft claims is
holding back the US economy and ceding an innovative advantage to other
countries.

Personally I'm getting really sick of people confusing Bill Gates for the voice of reason. His comments on the domestic engineering labor market were beyond reproach.

The purpose of patents is to keep others from using the patents. Microsoft
not saying which patents are being infringed interferes with the Free
Software community removing any offending code. The Free Software
community tries to abide by copyright and patent law. Microsoft has been
sued multiple times for specific copyright infringement[1]. It needs to
list specific patent infringements or stop whining.

or 'Wine'ing? :) It is a FUD tactic, without a doubt. To me its a demonstration of how utterly pathetic M$ has become. Also, I know I've mentioned him before, but it really gets my goat when a particular activist who puts in his BS&T gets no credit. Please check out Bruce Perens as a source of info on this topic, Perens is the kind of guy who does not compromise his ideals for anyone and has really been a pillar of patent criticism from the start. I don't know him personally, but he has been a very reliable source of information, and if you follow the issues closely you can tell he is looking out for the Greater Good(tm).

http://perens.com/Articles/PatentFarming.html .

Perens was also the one who was trying to get Wikis installed at the USPTO so engineers could log on and provide prior art before the patent is issued.

"Microsoft's explanation is that this balancing payment was calculated
as it would be in any cross-licensing deal: Novell has valuable
network-computing patents that Microsoft products may infringe, and
since Microsoft's products bring in so much more revenue than Novell's,
Microsoft owed a balance.[2]"

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says, "What's fair is fair.[2]" Interesting
phrase from the CEO of a company that 1) has been convicted multiple times
of illegally maintaining a monopoly[3], 2) has successfully sued multiple
times for copyright infringement, 3) admits it has infringed on patents
from others.

Ballmer has ZERO credibility amongst the development community.

-jmz

And, of course, groklaw already has something better than what I can come
up with[4].

Gotta love, "4. What kind of companies threaten to hurt you if you don't
pay them protection money? Do you want to do business with that type of
company? Can Microsoft risk that inevitable reaction?"

[0] Any other countries that should be listed? What countries do allow
software patents?

[1] Anyone got a list of the copyright infringement suits m$ has lost?

[2] http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/05/28/100033867/index.htm

[3] Anyone got a list of the specific convictions and a listing of how
they've

[4] http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20070513234519615

ciao,

der.hans
--
#  https://www.LuftHans.com/        http://www.CiscoLearning.org/
#  veni, vidi, wiki - I came, I saw, I documented
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