05.23.07
Novell, Patent Busters
Novell and the Electronic Frontier Foundation will be teaming up to address the "patent issue" on an international basis, an apparent follow-up to Novell’s espoused strategy regarding software patents in South Africa and an attempt to clean up their tarnished image in the community.
Novell issued a statement saying that the company would work with EFF to lobby governments and national and international organizations to develop patent legislation and policies that promote innovation.
In particular, Novell and EFF plan to appeal to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to encourage the group to take a global approach to patent reform.
Novell will help fund EFF’s “Patent Busting” program, which was launched in 2004. That project tries to identify prior art that can knock down patents that impose heavy burdens on software developers and Internet users.
Highlight: Novell was the first to acknowledge that Microsoft FUD tactics had substance. Novell then used anti-Linux FUD to market itself. 
Highlight: Xandros let Microsoft make patent claims and brag about (paid-for) OOXML support. 
Highlight: Linspire's CEO not only fell into Microsoft arms, but he also assisted the company's attack on GNU/Linux. 
Highlight: Microsoft craves pseudo (proprietary) standards and gets its way using proxies and influence which it buys. 
Highlight: The invasion into the open source world is intended to leave Linux companies neglected, due to financial incentives from Microsoft. 
Analysis: Xen, an open source hypervisor, possibly fell victim to Microsoft's aggressive (and stealthy) acquisition-by-proxy strategy.
Roy Schestowitz said,
May 23, 2007 at 8:43 pm
Microsoft has recently shown some interest in a weaker patents system. Novell seems to have just joined this initiative, which is great. There more about it here:
“In a surprise announcement earlier today at the Open Source Business Conference, Novell and the Electronic Frontier Foundation said that Novell would be contributing to the EFF’s Patent Busting project. In addition, the two entities will work for legislation and
policies that will “promote innovation,” specifically targeting the World Intellectual Property Organization.”