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Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google

arstechnica.com

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Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google

#171

Post by 001sky »

cromwellian wrote: post #155
lambdasquirrel wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't rush to that analogy. Microsoft dumped IE and we mostly agree that that was kind of dirty. From another angle, Google is trying to leverage one monopoly in order to break into another, and they did it by poorly copying the iPhone. There aren't really any "good guys" in this picture, but I at least give Microsoft a nod for trying (and failing) to do something different.

IE wasn't released unbundled from the OS as source for anyone to fork, so it's a false equivalence. If IE was released like Firefox/Mozilla was, no one would be complaining.

It was bundled, not dumped. But the bundle had more impact than an independent "dump". So, by substance if not by form, it is a comparable analogy. MS did not want to get shut out of desktop browser. Goog did not want to get shut out of mobile browser. They were both playing the same move strategically. Give away that which my enemey needs to sell to survive....

Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google

#172

Post by timedoctor »

I think the ultimate outcome of this type of patent war is either: a) Re-examining the whole patent system to prevent this sort of attack b) Companies will have to re-locate to China or another country where US patents do not apply

It's totally ridiculous to be sued for offering free software.

Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google

#173

Post by partyanimal »

fpgeek wrote: post #142
pg wrote: post #61

It's a little early to say for sure, but I predict this will do more to hurt Apple's reputation in the tech community than anything they've done before. And that is not a good community to alienate. I would not be surprised if they look back on this move one day and feel that they ended up net worse off as a result. Apple used to be careful not to alienate hackers. And Microsoft has been gradually digging itself out…

I agree that this will hurt Apple's reputation, but, in my opinion, this should already have been "priced in". Apple never really repented after the "look-and-feel" lawsuit. Many hackers just didn't notice because they were an underdog climbing out of a deep hole for so long. Now that the worm has turned and Apple has their do-over we can see that they never changed their spots. They just improved their legal tactics…

"The Rockstar consortium is an organization backed by Apple, Microsoft, BlackBerry, Ericsson and Sony."

Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google

#174

Post by r0h1n »

At the risk of downvotes & personal dissonance (I love Android and Google search), I'd like to posit an alternate filter to apply to this news.

Given (a) Google's inexorable rise and domination of more and more parts of the Internet & mobile [0], and (b) the unwillingness or inability of regulators around the world to apply any kind of checks to its scary clout, could this - Rockstar - be a kind of defensive mechanism from the industry itself?

I'm not saying that Apple, Microsoft, RIM etc. are suing Google out of a greater sense of responsibility towards consumer choice, but can we not - as external observers - view their action as a countermeasure to one competitor's overwhelming clout?

[0] http://blog.launch.co/blog/googlewinseverything-part-1.html

Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google

#175

Post by sanxiyn »

zmmmmm wrote: post #152
eru wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> [...] largest and most dominant companies on the planet. ... in software.

No. By market cap, Apple is the largest company in the world, full stop[1]. Microsoft is number 7, having spent much of the 90's at #1. Google does not rank at all. So at least by some definitions these companies are indeed the largest in the world without qualification. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_corporations_by_market_...

Google actually ranks 15. http://www.ft.com/intl/indepth/ft500

Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google

#177

Post by csense »

ekianjo wrote: post #28
bpodgursky wrote: post #18

I know it's been said before, but to reiterate: outrage doesn't help anything, but buying products from these companies DOES hurt. If you're truly outraged enough to want to take action, take action - writing to your representatives - donating to the EFF or other organizations - by not donating another $2k to Apple for a new Mac*, implicitly endorsing these bullshit tactics - not developing for those platforms (App S…

"Don't buy Macs" is not going to work well around here. Most HNers develop software on Mac and see it as the ideal development platform. I'd say they don't care about what Apple does (it's not the first time Apple does that either).

> Most HNers develop software on Mac

I've never owned a Mac, and the last time I used one was in 2004.

> ideal development platform

The other day I wanted to apply the hqx filtering algorithm to some images, with proper handling of transparency. The code I found for this [1] uses the DeVIL image library. After some apt-cache searching, I found that I could do this:

    sudo apt-get install libdevil-dev libdevil1c2
I challenge you to compile this program on a Mac. Not as easy, is it?

> they don't care about what Apple does

I certainly do! Due to the fact that you have to pay a non-refundable fee to the App store and it's hit-or-miss whether your app gets accepted or stays accepted, I've decided to develop mobile apps exclusively for Android.

[1] http://code.google.com/p/hqx/

Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google

#178

Post by x0x0 »

pg wrote: post #61

It's a little early to say for sure, but I predict this will do more to hurt Apple's reputation in the tech community than anything they've done before. And that is not a good community to alienate. I would not be surprised if they look back on this move one day and feel that they ended up net worse off as a result. Apple used to be careful not to alienate hackers. And Microsoft has been gradually digging itself out…

but say I want a smartphone, what is my alternative?

google, who works harder and harder to sell everything I do to advertisers (now you can't even rate apps w/o a google+ account), and who just shut off transmitting search data so they can screw site owners for more $?

microsoft, who is a party to this and actively worked to make the internet worse (and succeeded!) for the better part of a decade?

or apple, who at least isn't run by and for advertisers?

all choices suck

Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google

#179

Post by Goronmon »

axman6 wrote: post #114
6thSigma wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google didn't bid on these patents because they were infringing - they bid on the patents so they wouldn't get patent trolled.

... if they're not infringing, then they have nothing to worry about. Are you kidding me?

... if they're not infringing, then they have nothing to worry about. Are you kidding me?

I'm sure their infringing. Hell, I'm sure I've probably written some software somewhere along the lines that infringes on some patent this company holds.

Developing software with patents around is like pirating media. You just have to hope you don't give anyone a reason to come after you.

Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google

#180

Post by WaterSponge »

We are all building software on the shoulders of giants but like to claim major pieces of glory once we grow into corporations. Remove a certain piece and like jenga it all falls down.

Some pieces protected by patents. Others patentable but never claimed.

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