06.29.08
Intellectual Monopolies Roundup
Software patents and other dubious nonsense
Those who are no friends of software patents and other intellectual monopolies may wish to have a look at the following set of posts:
The war-of-words between Sun Microsystems and NetApp over patent infringement claims wages on, while legal means to settle the matter have failed.
The two companies tried to sit down this week for a settlement conference, but judging by Sun’s response of publicly boasting that it has removed at least one of NetApp’s patents from the litigation and declaring the legal scuffle a war between ideologies — we’d say the mediation wasn’t entirely a success.
The book is a real treat for those who like intellectual property (despite the anti-patent message of the book) and may offer something for the generalist reader who likes to get lost in a legal thriller while basking in the summer sun.
Patents would be turned into a customs issue (whaaat?), and there would be no need actually to show that an infringement happened in order to start a “procedure”…. In other words, this SECURE (and for the name, see here) is about extending the RIAA’s intimidatory tactics to the whole of intellectual monopolies, and globally.
nteroperability continues to be a major issue. New systems are built on proprietary standards, increasing the cost of installation, while an older but effective system loses support when its maker merges with another vendor and decides to let that product fade into history.
We’ll be back to posting at the regular high pace tomorrow. █
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.