| Show us the code: right pew, wrong church |
Feb. 25, 2007
Along the lines of early efforts to derail SCO's claims that Linux infringes Unix copyrights, a gentleman going by the moniker, "digduality" has decided to fight recent claims by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer that Linux infringes on Microsoft patents, by launching ShowUsTheCode.com.
As you might guess from its name, the website's theme is: "since you, Microsoft, claim to be so sure of yourself: Show Us the Code."
In the few days since its Feb. 23 launch, the website has gained a great deal of attention on such sites as Digg, Linux Today, and Slashdot. Most of the people who have weighed in with comments on the issue have strongly voiced their support. They too want Microsoft to show "the public the code within Linux that violates their intellectual property by May 1st, 2007."
It sounds like a good idea; but unfortunately, it misses the point.
In Microsoft's latest FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) campaign -- make no mistake, that's exactly what this is -- Ballmer is not claiming that Linux contains any kind of Microsoft copyright violations. That was, at one time, SCO's claim, not Microsoft's.
In this assault on Linux, Ballmer is broadly hinting that Linux is infringing on Microsoft's enormous patent portfolio. And, when it comes to patents, there is no "code" to be shown.
That is part of the diabolic evil, as I see it, of the American patent system. With many, perhaps most, software patents there is no specific language, no hard code, but only descriptions of general processes that can be implemented in multiple ways.
As Bradley M. Kuhn, executive director of the Free Software Foundation (FSF) told me a few years back, it's "difficult today to write any software program -- be it free software or proprietary -- from scratch that does not exercise the teachings of some existing software patent in the U.S.A."
Back when Ballmer first started taking talking about Linux patents in 2004, Dan Ravicher, an attorney and executive director of PUBPAT (the Public Patent Foundation) said, "There is no reason to believe that GNU/Linux has any greater risk of infringing patents than Windows, Unix-based or any other functionally similar operating system. Why? Because patents are infringed by specific structures that accomplish specific functionality."
The issue has come up again because of the Microsoft/Novell agreement's patent collaboration agreement. Novell CEO Ron Hovsepian said of that agreement that it "is in no way an acknowledgment that Linux infringes upon any Microsoft intellectual property. To claim otherwise is to further sow fear, uncertainty and doubt, and does not offer a fair basis for competition."
Microsoft, then and now, says simply that "Microsoft and Novell have agreed to disagree on whether certain open source offerings infringe Microsoft patents and whether certain Microsoft offerings infringe Novell patents." And, Ballmer continues his FUD.
I'm sorry to say that the "show the code" campaign won't stop this. It won't impede the patent FUD at all.
What we really need is a complete revision of the U.S. patent system. Software patents should be done away with -- it's that simple, in theory. In practice, we're stuck with this mess.
Ironically enough, Microsoft would agree. On Feb. 22, Microsoft was socked with a $1.52 billion patent judgment in favor of Alcatel-Lucent. The judgment was about one-third of what Alcatel-Lucent had asked for, and it was still the largest patent award in history. Perhaps Ballmer will be a little less inclined to threaten with the patent sword now. After all, the companies that support Linux, such as IBM, Oracle, Red Hat, and many others, have patent holdings that dwarf even Microsoft's own. Does Microsoft really want to play a game of mutually-assured destruction by software patents? I doubt it.
The patent system is truly dysfunctional, both for proprietary and open source software companies. Behind Ballmer's bluster, I think he knows that too. That won't stop him, mind you. After all, it scares corporate customers into sticking with Microsoft, and protecting and growing Microsoft's bottom line is what he gets paid the big bucks for.
So, since we're stuck with this FUD, you may want to consider giving your support to PUBPAT, the Linux Foundation's patent commons, and the SFLC (Software Freedom Law Center) for their work against software patents and for SFLC.
-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
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