Eight Things Microsoft Can And Should Do To Be More 'Open'

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| So here are eight things Microsoft could do to add real teeth to its
| commitment to openness:
|
| 1. Reveal the patents allegedly being violated by open source products, or
| take back claims that Linux and other open source software violate at least
| 235 of Microsoft's patents.  
|
| While we haven't heard more on any patent threats from Microsoft in recent
| months, they're still out there. "This is in no way removing the issue of
| patents in the context of infringement," one of Microsoft's top intellectual
| property execs told me earlier this year, when chatting about Microsoft's
| recently announced interoperability principles.    
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http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/05/eight_thing...

Later they wonder why they get egged and then run hiding under a desk.

Open Source, by Any Other Name….

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| OStatic blogger Reuven Lerner reiterates that the problem still exists today.
| Despite OSI’s best efforts and intentions, there really is no one meaning
| for “open source.” The only way to know what you’re getting is to “read the
| fine print,” he says, and ask the vendor a lot of questions regarding what
| open source means for its business.    
`----

http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/osb/?p=380

He talked about Microsoft's Windows-only fake Aras bulls**t.

Related:

A Patent Lie

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| Microsoft sang a very different tune in 1991. In a memo to his
| senior executives, Bill Gates wrote, "If people had understood how
| patents would be granted when most of today's ideas were invented,
| and had taken out patents, the industry would be at a complete
| standstill today." Mr. Gates worried that "some large company will
| patent some obvious thing" and use the patent to "take as much of
| our profits as they want."
`----

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/09/opinion/09lee.html

Who is the world's biggest patent troll?

,----[ Quote ]
| In two consecutive days, The Wall Street Journal presented two different
| answers. The first is not surprising: Intellectual Ventures, the brainchild
| of ex-Microsoft executive Nathan Myhrvold. It's now out "to raise as much as
| $1 billion to help develop and patent inventions, many of them from
| universities in Asia."  
`----

http://blogs.cnet.com/8301-13505_1-9816163-16.html?part=rss&subj=news...

Playing Microsoft Patent Poker

,----[ Quote ]
| 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.  
`----

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2201579,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03129TX1K...

Big businesses boast of patent benefits, for small businesses

,----[ Quote ]
| A report published by an EU task force on intellectual property claims
| that small businesses benefit from a patent system, despite lacking
| almost any participation by the small business community.
|
| Instead, the report, titled IPR (intellectual property rights) for
| competitiveness and innovation, was written up almost entirely by
| large corporations and the patent industry.
|
| [...]
|
| The report does note objections from the likes of patentfrei.de and
| Sun Microsystems, which were recorded at some length in the report.
| But this does not appear to have impacted the conclusion of the
| report in any way
|
| [...]
|
| Jean-Pierre Laisne, of ObjectWeb, an open source software community,
| said that he found the report useless: participants were told that
| all their contributions would be recorded but at the end only
| those of Business Software Alliance and Microsoft were used.
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http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/99155/big-businesses-boast-of-patent-bene...
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