| Shuttleworth on patents: Microsoft "not the real threat" |
May 21, 2007
In a May 21 blog entry, Ubuntu leader and Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth explained that when it comes to patents, he doesn't "think Microsoft is the real threat, and in fact, I think Microsoft and the Linux community will actually end up fighting on the same side of this issue."
A week before this, Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, claimed that the Linux kernel violates 42 of its patents, while the Linux graphical user interfaces break another 65. In addition, the Open Office suite of programs infringes 45 more, an assortment of email programs violate 15 others, and various other free and open-source programs allegedly transgress 68 more patents.
Microsoft, however, has not taken legal action. In addition, it has refused to identify these patents. For that matter, Microsoft has refused to say how it determined that its patents were being violated.
Despite all this rhetoric, however, Shuttleworth believes that within a few years, "Microsoft themselves will be strong advocates against software patents. Why? Because Microsoft is irrevocably committed to shipping new software every year, and software patents represent landmines in their roadmap which they are going to step on, like it or not, with increasing regularity."
Shuttleworth also noted that Microsoft already spends a huge amount of money on patent settlements (far, far more than they could hope to realize through patent licensing of their own portfolio). ... In short, Microsoft will lose a patent trench war if they start one, and I'm sure that cooler heads in Redmond know that."
Indeed, it's already here in some senses. In December 2006, the SFLC (Software Freedom Law Center), a non-profit organization that provides pro-bono legal services to protect and advance open-source software, filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Microsoft's appeal of a "Microsoft v. AT&T" software patent decision.
A pro open-source group coming to Microsoft's defense? In a statement, SFLC Legal Director Daniel Ravicher explained, "I expect many people will be surprised that the Software Freedom Law Center has filed a brief with the Supreme Court in support of Microsoft. In this specific case, Microsoft and SFLC are both supporting the position that U.S. software patents have no right to cover activity outside of the United States, especially in places that have specifically rejected software patents."
On April 30, Microsoft and the SFLC were successful in getting the Supreme Court to overturn the Microsoft v. AT&T ruling that Microsoft should be held liable for patent infringement on copies of the Windows operating system sold overseas. It's not gratitude that will keep Microsoft from prosecuting patent suits, however, according to Shuttleworth; it's enlightened self-interest.
After all, "The real threat to Linux is the same as the real threat to Microsoft, and that is a patent suit from a person or company that is NOT actually building software, but has filed patents on ideas that the GNU project and Microsoft are equally likely to be implementing."
Shuttleworth stated that Microsoft would not be served by a tit for tat patent trench war. Or, as some have put it, Microsoft should have no interest in playing the MAD (mutually assured destruction) patent game.
According to Shuttleworth, the real problem for both Microsoft and Linux isn't "patent trolls," -- that is, companies that never produce software, but buy up software patents and then sue those who make these ideas into successful products. No, "It's not the patent-holders who are the problem, it's the patent system," he wrote.
His answer to this problem is to encourage others to "Get involved!" He writes: "I recently joined the FFII: Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure, which is doing excellent work in Europe in this regard. Canonical sponsored the EUPACO II conference, which brought together folks from across the spectrum to discuss patent reform. And Canonical also recently joined the Open Invention Network, which establishes a Linux patent pool as a defensive measure against an attack from an incumbent player. You can find a way to become part of the conversation, too. Help to build better understanding about the real dynamics of software innovation and competition. We need to get consensus from the industry - including Microsoft, though it may be a bit soon for them - that software patents are a bad thing for society."
Shuttleworth's complete blog post is here.
-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
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