03.28.08
Another ‘Patent TrollTracker’ in the Making and Questions About the ‘Big Bad Troll’ Called Nokia
The following new article speaks about Bodog, which is said to be a patent victim that in turn became a patent troll fighter [via Digital Majority] whilst Rick Frenkel and Cisco fight in the courts.
Court records suggest that Scott Lewis and his related “licensing” companies currently have pending litigation against Playtech, Parlay Entertainment, Tiltware, Electronic Arts, Viacom, Microsoft, Betcorp, Giga Media, Harmonic Systems, Grand Virtual, Cambridge Interactive Development, Ultranet Internet Media, Lasseters, Leisure and Gaming, IQ-Ludorum, and Kolyma. The number of outstanding demand letters threatening litigation that may be on the desks and minds of other businesses is unknown.
Here is another article about Bodog, which explains a classic supposition on which such trolling relies.
“They count on organizations being forced to make the assessment of whether fighting a patent claim will cost more than to simply settle it. They say their patents are valid. They say their claims are legitimate. Well, it’s time to prove it.”
Over in this WordPress blog you will find skepticism over Nokia’s alleged role as a lobbyist for software patents.
If you care about the topic you can help by providing more precision and data in the accusation and the demands: Is Nokia really lobbying for software patents nowadays? Which countries are we talking about apart from the EU? What does “lobbying” exactly mean? What would you find reasonable about Nokia dealing with software patents?
A FFII report made four years ago seems to be the source of the complaints, but what was that action and where it stands today? Are there more original sources to look at? Searching the Internet most of the stuff seems to be echoes and opinions resonating each other and sometimes linking to the original FFII source.
Watch the first comment and remember Nokia’s odd involvement with GNU/Linux (and with Microsoft).
Here are good places where one can start looking for evidence about Nokia and patents:
- Qualcomm defeated in patent dispute with Nokia
- Nokia lands another punch on Qualcomm
- Nokia signs up to [patent-encumbered] Silverlight
- Twelve billion euros claimed from Nokia for use of patents
There are people who are more familiar with Nokia’s history, patent-wise. █
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.