Well, technically, it’s not extortion if you threaten to sue someone and then demand payment to prevent suit, but it should be when the grounds for suit are baseless. Software patents are vapourware and should dissipate if the SCOTUS ever rules on them.
We read today that Amazon and M$ have signed a cross-licensing deal and Amazon has paid money to M$ for use of stuff in Kindle etc., including GNU/Linux.
- NDA
- no specifics on the patents in question
Typical. If you want to spread FUD, this will do. We also have no word on how many businesses have told M$ where to go. So far they have only sued TomTom. United we stand. Divided we fall. That’s the game. If the world does not stand up to bullies they become more aggressive and dangerous. Seeking to diversify their cash cow, the patent portfolio will be milked repeatedly. I notice this does not rate an SEC filing so it is not huge but its FUD value may be much higher.
The worst possible outcome is the extension of the M$ tax to GNU/Linux. That will not happen. Software patents are on their way out. Copyright FUD did not work for SCOG, M$’s stooge. Patent FUD will not work for M$. Even if they somehow play the game out for years as SCOG has done, patents expire in much shorter time than copyrights. The best M$ can hope to do it use this FUD to retain control of the US market where software patents are tolerated. Most of the rest of the world gives them no play.
Extortion \Ex*tor”tion\, n. [F. extorsion.] 1. The act of extorting; the act or practice of wresting anything from a person by force, by threats, or by any undue exercise of power; undue exaction; overcharge. [1913 Webster]
Your legal system my vary, but most normal people would agree that Microsoft’s patent threats are blatant judicial extortion in both concept and dirty details. Shame on the US legal system for not protecting US and world business interestes. Boycott Novell has more recent coverage of this ongoing scam [1, 2]. Enjoy, and thank you for your high praise of my Microsoft Death Watch and Vista Failure Logs.
Yes. It’s too bad the laws here exempt legal threats from the crime of extortion. It allows patent trolls and vexatious litigants to live well. Look at SCO. With no evidence and indeed evidence to the contrary, they threatened to sue and took in millions in bogus licensing fees and stock inflation. The SEC at least should have raked these guys over the coals if the civil courts will not do it. The way it has turned out SCO after ditching GNU/Linux found a way to survive another 6 years without making any profits except the extortion.