01.25.08
Quick Mention: Software Patents from Microsoft Make Orwell Sigh
“Other than Bill Gates, I don’t know of any high tech CEO that sits down to review the company’s IP portfolio.”
–Marshall Phelps
“If seems unfortunate if we do this work and get our partners to do the work and the result is that Linux works great without having to do the work. Maybe there is no way Io avoid this problem but it does bother me. Maybe we can define the APIs so that they work well with NT and not the others even if they are open. Or maybe we could patent something related to this.”
–Bill Gates [PDF]
The following, which is one among a series that you can find at the bottom, illustrates just how far Microsoft will go with software patents.
Microsoft Corp. is developing a method of using personal data such as credit-card information to target Internet users with advertising once they connect to the Web, according to a patent application filed by the company.
In an application disclosed earlier this month, a Microsoft team including Chairman Bill Gates presents a method of collecting information about users’ “cell phones, geolocation systems, credit-card information” and other data sources to select and display “targeted advertising.”[…]
Gates is listed as an inventor on the patent application, alongside members of various Microsoft research units.
Remember the original purpose of patents. They were not made to hurt the consumers. █
Related articles:
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- Forget about the WGA! 20+ Windows Vista Features and Services Harvest User Data for Microsoft - From your machine!
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- Will Microsoft Put The Colonel in the Kernel?
- FBI ducks questions about its remotely installed spyware
- Yahoo!, Microsoft ink web pact with Chinese government
- Microsoft, Yahoo Tailor Ads To Users’ Behavior
- New software can identify you from your online habits
- Microsoft could be teaching police to hack Vista
- UK holds Microsoft security talks
- Could Hollywood hack your PC?
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.