Software Patents

TiVo judgment is fascinating, yet frighteningPosted by Ed Burnette in Dev Connection on Jan 31, 2008 7:08 PM Subscribe Alerts: Is the word "an" singular or plural? Does having an "object" in your program imply it has to be written in an "object-oriented language"? In today's ruling against EchoStar (Dish...[Read the rest]

More Software Patents on ZDNet

Hey readers, what's your problem with Patents?: Whenever I write a post about Patents- on this blog, on my ZDNet BlackBerry Beat blog, or elsewhere- I always seem to receive a bunch of "what's new about... [Read the rest]; Posted by Russell Shaw in IP Telephony on: May 29, 2007 4:14 AM
Parsing the details of the Microsoft-Novell pact: Novell dropped its annual report Friday and with it three exhibits offering details of its SUSE Linux pact with Microsoft. Two key points: A lot of the good stuff... [Read the rest]; Posted by Larry Dignan in Between the Lines on: May 28, 2007 7:07 AM
Novell publishes details on its Microsoft patent deal: Novell has posted to the Securites and Exchange Commission (SEC) Web site redacted versions of the company's patent, business and technology agreements with Microsoft, which it signed in November 2006.... [Read the rest]; Posted by Mary Jo Foley in All About Microsoft on: May 26, 2007 8:43 AM
Can Novell get its good name back?: Novell wants its good name back, with open source. But that train has left the station. Goethe wrote a great play about it once. [Read the rest]; Posted by Dana Blankenhorn in Linux and Open Source on: May 24, 2007 9:04 AM
Microsoft forces hard questions on open source: Microsoft is holding a sword over the head of all open source users, and all open source developers, a sword its lawyers may wield at any time to bankrupt start-ups... [Read the rest]; Posted by Dana Blankenhorn in Linux and Open Source on: May 24, 2007 6:59 AM
New Microsoft-funded study finds developers don't want GPL to cover patent deals: Microsoft is expending an awful lot of time and energy to try to derail the General Public License. On May 22, the latest in a long line of Microsoft-funded open-source... [Read the rest]; Posted by Mary Jo Foley in All About Microsoft on: May 22, 2007 6:55 AM
Microsoft and patent claims: 'Business as usual'?: Bill Hilf, Microsoft's General Manager of Platform Strategy, has finally blogged about Microsoft's decision to go public with its claims that it has found 235 patent violations by open source... [Read the rest]; Posted by Mary Jo Foley in All About Microsoft on: May 20, 2007 6:59 PM
Microsoft Windows and Office violate 532 patents?: By now I'm sure you've all read about Microsoft's latest attempt to slow down open source software adoption by asserting that Linux and other open source software violates 200+ of... [Read the rest]; Posted by Ed Burnette in Dev Connection on: May 17, 2007 7:52 AM; 49 Comments
Which is the better investment, IBM or Microsoft?: Throughout this century, IBM has moved toward open source while Microsoft has tied itself to the proprietary model. Yet IBM has been the better investment. [Read the rest]; Posted by Dana Blankenhorn in Linux and Open Source on: May 16, 2007 7:50 AM
Microsoft: A law firm pretending to be an army pretending to be a software company: Microsoft, of course, does not really want to take you, dear enterprise, to court. They would prefer to threaten, posture, evoke concern. Most sensible armies prefer to threaten war, and... [Read the rest]; Posted by Dana Gardner in BriefingsDirect on: May 15, 2007 6:58 AM; 230 Comments
GPLv3 the impetus for Microsoft's latest Linux attack campaign: With one stroke, Microsoft has ended any illusion that it planned to try to build bridges with the open-source community. And it appears the primary reason for Microsoft's decision to... [Read the rest]; Posted by Mary Jo Foley in All About Microsoft on: May 14, 2007 4:35 AM
Microsoft: Free and open source software violates 235 Microsoft patents: Microsoft finally has thrown down the gauntlet and is claiming publicly that free and open-source software (FOSS) violates 235 Microsoft patents. Why has Microsoft decided to go public now with... [Read the rest]; Posted by Mary Jo Foley in All About Microsoft on: May 13, 2007 4:46 PM
The straw men of open source: What moderates against straw men, and what limits their reach, is the community. Any argument which stands against the consensus of the community becomes an extraordinary claim, demanding extraordinary proof.... [Read the rest]; Posted by Dana Blankenhorn in Linux and Open Source on: May 8, 2007 7:26 AM
Sun preparing answer to Flash, Silverlight?: The details are a closely guarded secret until JavaOne opens next Tuesday. But all indications point to some kind of response from Sun to Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight. Here... [Read the rest]; Posted by Ed Burnette in Dev Connection on: May 4, 2007 2:14 PM; 14 Comments
Debates over GPLv3, Novell and Microsoft: A post on OSNews regarding Novell's official response to the recent draft of the GPLv3 led to a discussion on the merits (or lack thereof) of the Novell-Microsoft deal. Not... [Read the rest]; Posted by John Carroll in John Carroll on: Apr 3, 2007 2:30 PM; 24 Comments
New GPLv3 draft takes aim at Microsoft/Novell but loosens crypto restrictions: The Free Software Foundation (FSF) released the long-awaited third draft of the GNU General Public License (GPL) today. In this article, I highlight the major changes and discuss their implications... [Read the rest]; Posted by Ed Burnette in Dev Connection on: Mar 28, 2007 2:03 PM; 6 Comments
Which GPL Will Be At The Bottom Of The Incline?: Do we need language against software patents in order to feel that the playing field is level? Is a license which prohibits such patents explicitly more fair than one which... [Read the rest]; Posted by Dana Blankenhorn in Linux and Open Source on: Mar 22, 2007 11:35 AM
Niklas Zennström at VON '07: Innovation needs an open 'Net: At Video on the Net, Niklas Zennström put Skype front and center and talked about what's necessary for innovation to thrive, Jeff Pulver discussed asking for forgiveness rather than permission... [Read the rest]; Posted by Denise Howell in Lawgarithms on: Mar 20, 2007 12:57 PM
Tech Policy Summit: Patent Office head lays out reform strategy: The patent system is not broken, just not perfect. That is the viewpoint of Jon Dudas, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States... [Read the rest]; Posted by Dan Farber in Between the Lines on: Feb 27, 2007 1:04 PM
Tech Policy Summit: Fixing the patent system...soon: At the Tech Policy Summit in San Jose, the broken patent system was the topic of several panels. First, Congressman Howard Berman (D-CA) said that he coordinating with Senator Patrick... [Read the rest]; Posted by Dan Farber in Between the Lines on: Feb 26, 2007 5:39 PM
Software patents and the dependency problem: Ive long taken a dim view of software patents. I wrote this piece as far back as 2003, arguing that Europe should avoid copying the American approach to software patents,... [Read the rest]; Posted by John Carroll in John Carroll on: Feb 23, 2007 12:34 PM; 31 Comments
Technologists: Fix U.S. patent law now: If three technologists could tell the U.S. government what to do one of the first items would be to fix the patent system. Nothing drew the ire at a Wharton... [Read the rest]; Posted by Larry Dignan in Between the Lines on: Feb 23, 2007 10:59 AM
You can taste the irony of Microsoft's patent positions on MP3 and Linux: Yes, litigating your way to software business success has its pitfalls, and it's ironies. Trouble for Microsoft is that it has the deepest pockets in town, and therefore an IP... [Read the rest]; Posted by Dana Gardner in BriefingsDirect on: Feb 23, 2007 7:23 AM; 12 Comments
IP ant and IP grasshopper: The idea that the world would pay Verizon an IP tax on common Internet standards is absurd. It's just another way to keep the U.S. phone network marching backward, and... [Read the rest]; Posted by Dana Blankenhorn in Linux and Open Source on: Feb 21, 2007 8:38 AM
Should web designs be patentable?: Web pages already have substantial trademark and copyright protection. Why should patent protections be added? [Read the rest]; Posted by Dana Blankenhorn in Linux and Open Source on: Dec 14, 2006 8:59 AM
Do Windows users have an "undisclosed balance-sheet liability" too?: Back in November, Steve Balmer claimed Linux users had an "undisclosed balance-sheet liability" because, he said, Linux was taking advantage of Microsoft innovations and patents. Perhaps Mr. Balmer should be... [Read the rest]; Posted by Ed Burnette in Dev Connection on: Dec 11, 2006 7:38 PM; 118 Comments
Patent reform needs to go further: The US Supreme Court is currently hearing arguments in a case that could result in tighter rules for new patents. By dancing around the meaning of the word "obvious,"... [Read the rest]; Posted by John Carroll in John Carroll on: Nov 29, 2006 10:43 AM; 118 Comments
Fears of Microsoft are over-blown: Americans are not going to knuckle-under to a Microsoft monopoly on software development. More particularly, the rest of the world won't. And Microsoft doesn't do politics particularly well. [Read the rest]; Posted by Dana Blankenhorn in Linux and Open Source on: Nov 27, 2006 7:28 AM
The commons takes on Microsoft: Which is more vital to economic growth, the idea of knowledge as property or the idea of knowledge as a commons? [Read the rest]; Posted by Dana Blankenhorn in Linux and Open Source on: Nov 24, 2006 6:37 AM
Will Aussie patents turn Wi-Fi into a house of cards?: Get ready for the WiFi tax. Theres no way vendors can back away from the Wi-Fi "standard" (in other words, this is a house of cards that probably wont come... [Read the rest]; Posted by David Berlind in Between the Lines on: Nov 21, 2006 6:52 AM