[Fsfe-ie] Fwd: [dcos-igf] [Fwd: blog on Microsoft's attack on TomTom (and Linux)]

Bob Jolliffe bobjolliffe at gmail.com
Sat Mar 7 11:32:43 CET 2009


Interesting blog on a hot topic ...


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Malini Aisola <malini.aisola at keionline.org>
Date: 2009/3/6
Subject: [dcos-igf] [Fwd: blog on Microsoft's attack on TomTom (and Linux)]
To: "dcos-igf at googlegroups.com" <dcos-igf at googlegroups.com>



-------- Forwarded Message --------
From: Brian Kahin <bkahin at ccianet.org>
To: bkahin at ccianet.org
Subject: blog on Microsoft's attack on TomTom (and Linux)
Date: Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:12:07 -0500

Dear colleague:

You may be interested in the my Huffington Post blog entry on
Microsoft's attack on TomTom, especially since the story was not
picked up in the mainstream media.  It has been picked up in the
trades -- but only in a fragmentary manner.  My post is at
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-kahin/microsoft-roils-the-world_b_171985.html


The trade press has focused whether the suit is an indirect attack on
Linux.  I am sure that it is, it also appears to be Microsoft's first
software patent attack -- a landmark for a company that espouses
patent protection for software but has been sued repeatedly (a recent
10-K reports that it was facing 45 suits!) without previously filing
suit on its own initiative.  Few reports also seem to be aware of the
standards story -- the fact that Microsoft encouraged widespread
adoption of the FAT format as a common standard without asking for
royalties -- but reserving patents behind the standard as a
negotiating weapon.  Also, few if any suggest the link between
Gutierrez's promotion and this extraordinary event, but the costs it
imposes on others at Microsoft seem too great for coincidence.

I would of course be grateful for your insights into this remarkable
development, either posted on the website or communicated to me
directly.  I am trying to distinguish my blog as the only patent
policy blog targeted to an informed general public, so I would also
welcome comments on the series as a whole and suggestions for future topics.

Regards,
Brian


Brian Kahin

Senior Fellow
Computer & Communications Industry Association
900 17th St., NW, 11th Floor
Washington, DC 20001
202-783-0070 x101; direct 202-470-3769
bkahin at ccianet.org

Adjunct Professor & Research Investigator
School of Information, University of Michigan
304 West Hall, 1085 S. University Ave.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1092
734-647-8034
kahin at umich.edu
http://www.si.umich.edu/~kahin/bio.html

Wyoming office: 307-455-2748


--
Malini Aisola
Knowledge Ecology International
1621 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 500, Washington DC 20009
Tel: +1.202.332.2670 Fax: +1.202.332.2673


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