| Playing Microsoft patent poker |
Oct. 18, 2007
Opinion -- It’s become an annual event. Steve Ballmer shoots his yap about how Linux and open source violate Microsoft patents. The open-source community says, “OK, show us your cards, your patents,” and Ballmer shuts up for six months or so.
This time around, though, Microsoft’s FUD campaign is playing out in a different way. First, Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief poobah says those nasty, old Linux and open-source developers are still violating Microsoft’s precious IP (intellectual property). What property?
Come on, by my count, this is the fourth time Ballmer’s made the exact same claims, and not once has Microsoft produced even a solid accusation, much less any proof. And, for the fourth time, the open-source community has asked Ballmer to show his cards, and once more, rather than show his hand, for all intents and purposes, he folds.
This time though, while Ballmer slinks away to try to con … convince people that Microsoft Unified Communications somehow offers people more than what Cisco’s VOIP (voice over IP) been offering customers for years, a patent attack finally launches at Linux. Specifically, IP Innovation, a subsidiary of Acacia Technologies Group, has filed a patent infringement claim against Linux distributors Novell and Red Hat.
So was it just timing, or was it something more? Let’s take a look at the players. Acacia now has two new corporate officers. There’s Jonathan Taub, Microsoft's director of strategic alliances for the mobile and embedded devices, who’s now an Acacia vice president. And, just days before IP Innovation launched its suit against Red Hat and Novell, Acacia hired Brad Brunell, a top Microsoft executive who was formerly Microsoft’s general manager of IP licensing, as a senior vice president.
Oh, and what’s this? Back in 2006, Jacob Hawley joined Acacia as an engineering VP. Prior to joining Acacia, he was a Microsoft architect.
Of course, it could be mere coincidence that IP Innovation sits down to the table to play patent poker with two Microsoft senior executives helping to guide it. Personally, I’d rather bet on trying to draw to an inside straight. Which, I might add, if you’re not a poker player, is a really, really stupid bet.
Let’s stop pretending, shall we? This is just SCO all over again. We now know that SCO never should have even sat down at the lawsuit table. After all, since Novell literally owned every card in SCO’s hand—the actual ownership of Unix’s IP—the only real reason SCO had to sue was for its insiders to collect money from investors. One of which—Microsoft— bankrolled SCO’s lawsuits with its own roll of cash and with $50 million in chips from BayStar.
SCO is, for all practical Microsoft purposes, completely busted. Microsoft needed a new proxy to throw FUD at Linux and open source, and, whatever else patent troll companies may be good at, they’re certainly great at making good companies look bad.
This time, though, I think that Microsoft has some of its own at the table to make sure that Acacia doesn’t make stupid plays. After all, Microsoft wants to make as much FUD about Linux and patents as it can for as long as it can … just so long as it doesn’t have to sit at the table.
—Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
Do you have comments on this story?
Talkback here
NOTE: Please post your comments regarding our articles using the above link. Be sure to use this article's title as the "Subject" in your posts. Before you create a new thread, please check to see if a discussion thread is already running on the article you plan to comment on. Thanks!
Related Stories: |
|
|
7 Advantages of D2D Backup
For decades, tape has been the backup medium of choice. But, now, disk-to-disk (D2D) backup is gaining in favor. Learn why you should make the move in this whitepaper.
4 Legal Reasons to Control Internet Access
The Internet is obviously a valuable resource for many organizations. However, many are exposed to legal liability concerns because they fail to control Internet access. Learn if you're safe in this white paper.
Rapidly Resolve J2EE Application Problems
Whether you are in the process of building J2EE applications or have J2EE applications already running in production, you must ensure that they deliver the expected ROI. Learn how in this white paper.
Load Testing 2.0 for Web 2.0
There are many unknowns in stress testing Web 2.0 applications. Find out how to test the performance of Web 2.0 in this white paper.
Build Better Games Online
For the game infrastructure providers, life is complex. Making money from games has become more complicated. Why? Find out in this white paper.
Building a Virtual Infrastructure from Servers to Storage
This white paper discusses the virtual storage solutions that reduce cost, increase storage utilization, and address the challenges of backing up and restoring Server environments.
Gaining Faster Wireless Connections with WiMAX
Welcome to what is quickly becoming the hyperconnected world where anything that would benefit from being connected to the network will be connected. Learn more in this white paper.
Is Your Desktop a Security Threat?
The new wave of sophisticated crimeware not only targets specific companies, but also targets desktops and laptops as backdoor entryways into those business’ operations and resources. Learn how to stay safe in this white paper.
Increasing SAN Reliability by 100 Percent
Storage area networks (SAN) are a strong part of storage plans. Learn how to increase your reliability and uptime by 100 percent in this case study.
|
|
|
|
|
news feed