??? They spent 4.5 billion on patents rather than invest in their own products. For all they know the patent system can completely change in the next 5 years, outlawing the kind of crap they're pulling right now.
Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google
481–490 of 554 posts
Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google
#482Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google
#483It'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…
Apple has been hostile to hackers for my entire lifetime. From suing makers of mac-compatible hardware, through refusing to license their iPod DRM to other sellers, and the unprecedented closedness of the iPhone walled garden, to the ludicrous design patent lawsuit against Samsung. They've always been the enemy of anyone who was paying attention, and this latest move is no worse than what they've done before. I'd lik…
"ludicrous design patent lawsuit against Samsung"
You mean the one Google's lawyers told Samsung infringed on Apple's design? Right, ludicrous.
Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google
#484Earlier quoted context omitted.
Shareholders can and have replaced the Board of Directors of public companies, based on their lack of faith in the company's ability to maximize profits. The Board of Directors is in charge of hiring and firing for the senior executives. The Board of Directors and Senior Executives know this, and aren't stupid. All that has to happen is that shareholders (which are often other corporations) need to act RESPONSIBLY, a…
If you are seriously suggesting that Tim Cook would have been ousted had Apple not gone down this road, I think you and the rest of the world are just going to have to agree to disagree.
Yeah, it would be crazy to think that a corporation like Apple would ever replace their CEO.
I'm reminded of the phrase, Those who do not read history are doomed to repeat it.
Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google
#485Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's certainly true that the patent system is broken. But the fact you can get away with doing something due to broken laws doesn't make it ok to do it.
If nothing else, wouldn't you be open to shareholder lawsuits if you didn't engage in an action which was obviously legal and obviously profitable?
Weird reasoning. So anything legal and profitable must be done? Even for shareholders I think this can't be true. And anyway it is easy to show that going evil is harmful in the long term, e.g. with developers.
Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google
#486Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm unhappy with Apple and Microsoft too, but the real enemy is a broken patent system that creates the perverse incentives that motivate companies to launch lawsuits like this one, to the detriment of society. Regardless of who wins, we have already lost, because we have a patent system that discourages innovation and competition in software! Maybe the prospect of patent Armageddon will finally force lawmakers to ad…
It's certainly true that the patent system is broken. But the fact you can get away with doing something due to broken laws doesn't make it ok to do it.
I don't like this any more than the next guy, but it's not like apple and microsoft aren't also getting sued. At some point offense can be the best defense.
Edit: also, apple and microsoft also actually make things. This puts them in a different class than patent trolls like lodsys(sp?)
Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google
#487We need to treat the cause and not the symptom. Because really, if Google won this suit, they would most likely be trying the same tactics.
Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google
#488Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm unhappy with Apple and Microsoft too, but the real enemy is a broken patent system that creates the perverse incentives that motivate companies to launch lawsuits like this one, to the detriment of society. Regardless of who wins, we have already lost, because we have a patent system that discourages innovation and competition in software! Maybe the prospect of patent Armageddon will finally force lawmakers to ad…
It's certainly true that the patent system is broken. But the fact you can get away with doing something due to broken laws doesn't make it ok to do it.
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Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google
#489Allow me to inject some perspective. 1) For all the talk of Microsoft and Apple "abusing patents", it was actually Google that had to pay 14 million in damages for actually doing just that. Let's just not forget that before deciding who should be "alienating the tech community". However, Google's PR really is very good, and unfortunately, most people here accept it without critical thought because it confirms their b…
[ Giving away Android for free was a direct attack on Microsoft's and Apple's business model. They are simply responding in kind.] So Google Entered a new Market with good product and different business model, MSFT and AAPL responded with litigation. Thanks for making it obvious.
No. Apple created a new Market at great risk and expense, and Google entered a it with a rip-off product. On the other hand Microsoft sacrificed three years to create an original product to compete fairly. But since Google didn't incur the risk and costs of creating said market and designing an original product, Google (supported by its search monopoly profits) could undercut them by dumping on to the market Android for free. And so Apple and Microsoft responded by suing for trampling on their intellectual property rights.
But wait, there's more! It doesn't end at Apple and Microsoft! Google also ripped off Sun by co-opting, without license, the Java dev environment (that cost Sun millions of dev dollars) and more importantly, the Java work force (that cost Sun billions of marketing dollars), just so they could get more people to make apps for their mobile OS. Guess what! Sun/Oracle sued them too!
Wow, if all these companies are suing Google for ripping them off (and considering multiple patent-related injunctions issued against Android vendors), it must mean Google has been ripping them off!
See? I can spin facts to support arbitrary biases as well.
Now, let's drop the incendiary language that most posters here stoop to. Here's the (overly simplified) reality: Google took for free what they thought they could get legally away with (and their gambles have so far paid off), and their competitors responded by trying to restrict them by using other legal counter-measures. Each side is doing exactly what they can get away with legally. People just happen to side with Google because their actions agree with their personal biases.
Re: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google
#490Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's certainly true that the patent system is broken. But the fact you can get away with doing something due to broken laws doesn't make it ok to do it.
The operative word in cs705's comment is incentive . The patent system is broken in such a way that not only does it makes possible to get away with this behavior, it encourages and rewards it. That's very different than merely "making it possible".
Robbing homes is possible and rewarding.
Saying that doing something wrong is rewarding is not sufficient.