Microsoft milks Casio for using Linux In the latest news from the tech world's ongoing global hunt to find someone to sue over/deal with on patents, Microsoft has signed a licensing agreement with Casio. The "broad, multiyear" contract, which neither party will put a price to, will help protect Casio devices that use Linux. While Linux is supposed to be open …
Me & mine have been Microsoft free since late 2009. Hasn't affected our computing/networking/Internet experience at all, near as I can tell[1]. And in fact, it's made my life much easier, for the simple reason that I no longer get called on to "fix my Windows[tm][r][c], please" on a near daily basis.
Just say "no" to multi-billion $currency global marketing companies.
[1] Exception is the gamers in the family ... and they don't call me, because I charge my standard commercial rates for fixing toys.
I help my family out all the time. I just refuse to fix b0rken-by-design Microsoft-based toys for free. My time is valuable, and I don't consider gaming useful.
My commercial computer rates are considerably lower than what I get from "pulling off[1]" horses, hour-for-hour ... but horse-porn only lasts a couple minutes; computer porn can go on for weeks, and pays the bills.
[1] It always amuses me when city folks try to discuss livestock breeding :-)
I stopped fixing Windows for friends and family because they just break it again in a week with Frostwire or the latest "You have a Virus INSTALL THIS NOW OR DIE!" scareware.
And every time it breaks its YOUR fault from that day on. Once you touch that PC, Stockholm Syndrome Kicks in and forever after any problems they have with that machine magically become your fault, Not Microsoft for writing junk, not them or their kids for doing the same foolish things over and over again, but specifically you because "You touched it last!"
He said he helps his friends and family. So do I. I help them Choose a Mac, or I help them install Linux. Helping them to keep limping along on Windows when all it does is fail for them is NOT helping them, its enabling them.
Most of the comments here may or may not be free speech. I have a portfolio of patents on alphabetic usages and patterns, including one covering "a consonant that can either represent a soft or hard sound". At least one prominent commenter has agreed to pay licensing fees. Go ahead, keep commenting all you want, but realize that you're stealing from me when you do it, and I have not yet ruled out the possibility of future legal action.
Is this really that much sillier than software patents?
Yes, software patents are just applications of lambda calculus -- that's maths for you if you did social "sciences" -- which is unpatentable by law.
If I worked at patent office I would need only two stamps: "lambda calculus" and "bloody obvious". I just wonder which one would need be replaced more often...
Could the venerable ElReg possibly enlighten us as to what these Microsoft p[atents are that Linux is infringing upon. I'm no fanboy but whenever its Apple being silly we get the gory details yet when its Microsoft we get nada.
So what is it? Are these real and genuine inventions that have been copied?
You haven't been paying attention! Microsoft says there are 235 patents being breached but won't say which patents are involved. As others have commented, were Microsoft to reveal which 235 patents they are talking about, it is quite likely that the world + dog would find prior art or other reasons why Microsoft's claims are invalid.
It's how you play the game.
There are two issues - cost of settling vs cost of lawyers and how much do you want your patent system devalued.
Do you really thing Casio doesn't have a long list of dodgy patents? Is it in Casio's interest to have the patent system fixed?
Cross-licensing is how we stop smaller companies from challenging the status quo. It's how we stop good ideas becoming good products without being sold to a major corporation. Do you think this is what Casio or Samsung or HTC want, any more than MS or Apple? Google is unique here because it doesn't (didn't) have a physical product, but even Google had to buy into the patent system to defend Motorola.
I think it would be very hard to fix the patent award mechanism. However, given that a patent is a government sanctioned monopoly for something which is not secret, I see no reason why the government should not require notification and publication of when that monopoly power is transferred between organisations. I'd vote for a public register of all licensing deals involving government-provided monopoly rights, at least naming the rights involved.
Patent threats are society-backed legal threats made by private organisations. I think society ought to be able to see what is being done with the rights they grant.
Given microsoft are raping the shit out of all that is good, why don't you do this. Every time you see a microsoft advert on google, the register, whatever, click through and then leave. If enough people do it thats one hell of a bill, and while only a pisspot full of money to ms, it redistribues some of its wealth to sites that deserve the money and it makes it virtually impossible to monitor how well your web advertising is doing, as most clicks are fruitless to them.
Just an idea...........if enough people kick then surely this would be crowd sourcing at its best....
Whether i see the MS adverts or not i have never directly bought a product from MS anyway.
Don't own an Xbox, and My laptops all came with Windows pre-installed by the manufacturer. And prior to that i used a friends copy of Windows 98 on my self built pc. And was a Amiga user before that, which FYI was a much more friendly system for adding new file systems than windows. You could drop a couple of driver files into the system folder and the entire OS and programs could read the new file system.
"Given microsoft are raping the shit out of all that is good,..."
When was the last time your mom let you out of the basement? She needs to take you out for an airing way more often - even if you don't want to go, because you have constructed a fantasy world which is a veritable paradise except for the presence of Microsoft. Meanwhile, back in the actually-existing world, on the list of all things that are evil, we find Microsoft far, far down the list.
..there are far more evil people in the world so all those others who are a little bit less evil, you can go about your usual evil business, until you become evil enough, according to Turtles scale of evil, that makes it ok to actually do something about you. Yeah good logic there - NOT!
Stop one stop them all.
You invent something.
You patent it, because after all, you don't want to throw away your valuable time and you have bills to pay.
Then someone else comes along with the same idea.
Do you sue them, or do you offer them a licencing deal?
Nobody here knows the terms of the deal between Microsoft and Casio, but most commentators seem to have made up their mind that Casio got screwed.
Why is that ? In my opinion, it's because big bad Microsoft that was on the other side of the deal and it gives an opportunity to vent a whole load of hot air. But wait, reflect that back to my example above. If you choose to deal with the other party, did they get screwed or was it just good business for everyone?
Take a step back there. Company A invent something and patent it. Company B invent something. Does Company A really have any moral right to prevent company B profiting from their own hard work?
Maybe you can say company B copied it rather than invented it, but that is fairly unlikely. The stuff that would cause problems for Linux is the stuff you can't see. The stuff you can see can be worked around in a heat-beat.
Maybe if the patents could be slimmed down to those which were actually novel and non-obvious then the system could be made to work, but as it stands it is a liability for the majority of businesses in the USA.
This is a simple business decision for Casio. Do you pay now or do you pay over ten million dollars to fight a legal suit that you should theoretically win but which will give your competitors FUD opportunities for the next 3-5 years? It's a no-brainer, as was the question of whether you should pay the mob.
Legalised extortion, pure and simple.
To carry you hypothetical postulation further:
>> Company A invent something and patent it. Company B invent something. Does Company A really have any moral right to prevent company B profiting from their own hard work?
If Company B *invented* it, no, Company A would have no moral or legal right to stop it.
However, by your definition, Company A *invented* it, not Company B. Nothing can be invented twice.
Company B might have *thought* they invented something and may well indeed have put a lot of time and effort into the design, but if it was patented by someone else first, they cannot claim to have invented it and are potentially infinging that patent. The best option would be to seek a licence to use the invention on favourable terms.
Microsoft invent a new algorithm, implement it deep inside Windows 8.5 and patent it.
Some Linux guy looks for a new algorithm and happens to come up with something close enough to infringe the patent.
Microsoft did not publish the algorithm beyond their patent and it was not visible in the product they produced. Nobody reads patents for fear of triple damages, even if they could afford the time to read them all. (It's approximately a single full-time job.) So nobody but Microsoft and the patent office knew Microsoft had invented anything; the Linux guy worked from scratch, just the same as Microsoft did. He did exactly the same work.
You say Microsoft invented it and the Linux guy didn't. I say that is a mighty strange definition of the term "invent" which it is not productive for us to adopt.
If there is any blame to be apportioned, then it has to go to "The System". The way the patent system works is broken as far as most non-lawyers are concerned. However, the law system is also broken as it assumes a ruling as upheld if enough lawsuits are successfully won. I predict that MS will be able to go after Google / Red Hat etc. once enough little lawsuits have been won. They are simply doing the groundwork, that's all.
If you were in MS's position you'd do the same things to protect your business. That's just how "The System" works.
The same argument can be made against Apple and Oracle. It is the way it is.
Disclaimer: I dislike MS, their products and their business practices. But I use Windows because it gets the job done at an acceptable price. I use Linux where possible. I don't succumb to Apple marketing because I prefer Android. My money, my choice. If you prefer something different and are willing to pay for it yourself then go right ahead - I won't mind. We, the little people, should be allowed choice. That's all.
Due to the monopoly that Microsoft has every time you pay your taxes some of that money goes to Microsoft, some of that money is possibly going towards the legal costs of attacking Linux.
That monopoly means that police, schools, hospitals, libraries use Windows (even though there is no need to - why the hell do police need to use Windows pc's... Are they playing DirectX games ?)
Microsoft are a huge example of why monopolies are a bad idea. Microsoft existence is preventing the advancement of computing as a science... they are hindering mankind advancing as a race (unless you count WGA + clippy)
Now, not living in the US I maybe basing this on false assumptions (if so I'd appreciate feedback!) but I think everyone is barking up the wrong tree here. Its not the evil MS but the evil justice system which makes all this idiocy possible.
People always forget that companies seek money. But its the US which makes that (IMVHO:) retarded patent system possible so its only logical that companies use it to try and generate an income from it. Maybe not morally ethical, but for companies only the financial aspect is important.
Now the only thing people are upset is because in this case it involves Linux. When it comes to other (far more) unfair patent deals it may not even get any of your attention apart from those who also follow the financial sections of the newspaper.
Still; if you want to blame someone then put the blame where it belongs: the US patent system.
Only that way you might actually be able to change something here.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
