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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

#311

Post by weland »

bane wrote: post #234
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…

Yet hackers will continue to vote with their wallets, buying Apple products and perpetuating this continuous pattern of bad behavior. Of course the pragmatic alternative, Microsoft, isn't exactly know for being the good behaving kid on the block either. And mucking around with home-built PCs running some Linux distro doesn't have the same appeal to me it had 10 years ago. So what to do?

> And mucking around with home-built PCs running some Linux distro doesn't have the same appeal to me it had 10 years ago.

We're not ten years ago, you don't need to do that anymore. There are enough reputable vendors selling PCs with excellent Linux support.

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

#312

Post by Tyrannosaurs »

air wrote: post #251
bowlofpetunias wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This may be true, but let's not get fooled into thinking that because "they" are the enemy, Google must be our friend. Google is playing a very dubious game here, and it has nothing to do with being on "our" side of the patent issue. They've tried to buy the same patents, refused to participate in a joint effort to safeguard those patents for all, and then knowingly violated those patents. All through this, they've b…

I think separating good guys and bad guys is pretty simple, if one is against (at least software) patents: Using patents aggressively makes you a bad guy. Google has not done this, Microsoft and Apple have.

But isn't the point being made that this is better not looked at as a good versus bad, it's better looked at as one sort of bad against another sort of bad.

The fact that one of them is slightly better than the other in one regard doesn't change the fact that neither of them are really that worthy of your support.

You're right that Google haven't been patent aggressors up until now but if recent behaviour teaches us anything it's that Google have been very willing to change what they've stood for historically. If you believe that they'd never change that position if they felt it suited them then you have more faith in them than I do.

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

#313

Post by grey-area »

stusmith1977 wrote: post #282
grey-area wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but say I want a smartphone, what is my alternative? I agree all mainstream choices suck, but there are alternatives: FirefoxOS or Ubuntu Phone

Surely open-source handset OSes are just as vulnerable to patent attacks? If Firefox OS were to take off, it would immediately become a target for exactly the same sort of lawsuit.

The question was not how do I buy a smartphone which is invulnerable to patent attacks/lawsuits, but how can I avoid supporting this kind of predatory corporate behaviour (Apple, Google, MS were listed as examples).

I agree open source handsets (as far as they can be) would also be vulnerable to software patent attacks, but we could at least support companies which don't engage in such attacks.

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

#315

Post by keypusher »

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…

Just like Apple's ridiculous $1 billion patent lawsuit against Samsung hurt their reputation? Oh wait, it didn't hurt them at all and it's already forgotten. You are giving the tech community way too much credit if you think they really care about this, and the average person won't even notice.

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

#317

Post by josteink »

CmonDev wrote: post #261

Well, it is lawful - just like Google's tax evasion.

Google's tax evation is a strictly "private" matter between Google and the (whatever, wherever) government.

Full on patent-war in the entirety of mobile-space will hit a lot of collateral, and will affect what is available to customers and what price.

I say people need to be more vocal about shunning patent-trolls like Apple and Microsoft. Without enough people complaining loudly about this, they'll just keep on at it until development can only be done with an army of lawyers at hand.

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

#319

Post by erikb »

Great article!

Just as a side note: Because English is not my mother tongue I have problems to understand what the title actually wants to say, though. To me it sounds like Apple owns Microsoft, and Microsoft is Apple's "rockstar" because it sues Google. So I wonder if some mother tongue speakers could verify that the title is actually understandable to them and explain what the title wants to say. Thanks!

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

#320

Post by czr80 »

air wrote: post #298
IBM wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well considering Apple was willing to actually pay a small amount rather than no payment at all, I don't see how you can see them as the aggressor. Motorola clearly stated that they wanted more for it. It seems like Google had more control over whether that lawsuit was filed than I thought. From FOSS Patents: >A few months after that Zeitgeist talk, in January 2012, Google authorized a Motorola Mobility lawsuit again…

You forget that Apple has their own patent suits against Motorola that they are not dropping. Ending the fight would mean that both drop their patent suits. Seems to me that GoogleMotorola wants this and Apple doesn't.

What's your evidence for that claim?
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