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February 9, 2007 11:23 AM PST
Microsoft: Novell deal a milestone despite squabbles
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Microsoft is due to have its first-ever appearance before the U.S. Supreme Court on February 21, when the justices hear an appeal in a patent dispute between the software giant and AT&T. Smith said he is looking forward to the event, though he won't be the one actually making oral arguments. For that task, Microsoft has brought in former Solicitor General Ted Olson.
The case centers on a speech technology patent held by AT&T. The two companies settled much of their dispute, but they disagreed over whether royalties were owed for products sold outside the U.S. and agreed to let the courts settle the matter. A federal appeals court sided with AT&T, and Microsoft appealed to the high court.
U.S. law requires companies to pay royalties on patents for products not only assembled in the country, but also for those whose components are created domestically with final assembly done elsewhere. Among the questions is whether software is made in the United States if the code is created domestically but sent overseas for replication onto discs.
"It is a classic example of a case that is both important and less than easy to explain," Smith said.
He said the case raises issues larger than just whether Microsoft needs to pay a few more dollars in royalties. If software makers that develop their products in the U.S. are required to pay patent royalties globally, they could be at a disadvantage and potentially have incentive to move some development work overseas.
Chief Justice Roberts has recused himself over stock ownership, which means that only eight of the court's nine justices will hear the case. Because it lost at the trial court, Microsoft will need to sway five justices to prevail.
Redmond, privacy groups become allies
In an unlikely pairing, Microsoft and other technology companies are joining consumer and privacy groups in calling for federal privacy laws. Although some privacy groups want laws that go further than the tech companies are seeking, Smith said that in many cases, industry representatives and consumer groups are on the same page.
Right now, there are various state laws but no national standard when it comes to the means for collecting data on the Internet. Smith likened it to food labels in the 1970s, when one type of food had one label, and another had different nutritional information.
Smith said there is not a privacy crisis at the moment, which makes it the right time to talk through the complexities.
"If there is a problem that emerges, there will be pressure to act quickly," he said.
Smith said he has been encouraged by progress over the last 18 months, but he said he is not predicting that a law will make it through Congress this year.
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27 comments
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Ya as the beginning of the end of Suse... I used both Red Hat and Suse before this agreement, now I only use Red Hat.
MS only does things in the effort to make things better for MS. Open source movements do things in the effort to better things for the software itself. Better software equals better things for the customer and society as a whole.
Red Hat makes it's money on services not the software. Red Hat also does things in an effort to make things better for Red Hat, but it's based on open source which is a more customer friendly model. Therefore you are in a better position as a customer because there is never any concern of theft or software audits, plus the prices are lower.
In the case of Novel, they are getting in bed with a company that is notoriously customer unfriendly and it can only lead to the same result coming from them. I guarantee you that in no time you will start to see these same kind of threatening things coming out of Suse that you do MS. Things like software audits and school teachers getting hauled of to Siberia... That's why I won't use them, not until they break the deal..
But there are plenty of alternatives that are safer for customers.
BTW, the Linux I've used (I am a professional consultant for Microsoft products by the way and that's how I make my living) is stable and provides almost all the functionality of windows. You might want to try it BEFORE you pass judgement on it...
company who discovers that their image installs work no longer
because the CD Key found its way onto a P2P network... Just ask
the sysadmin who patches a Windows-based server only to find
out that the patch undoes all the carefully-built security controls
that were put into place just to keep the thing halfway safe (esp.
those who have to conform to Department of Defense STIG
requirements).
Also, to best put it in contrast: Linux treats the user as a free
human being, whereas MSFT assumes that their customers are
criminals (see also WGA, Zune...)
Value? Let's talk value: Linux has a lower TCO, lower overhead,
lower administrative requirements... and at a far lower cost
overall in the budget department.
/P
Another question, Novell has some link to opensuse which it distributes for free. There is, I'm sure, nothing in the deal that keeps M$ from suing for patent infringement over the free versions since no royalties are paid. So much for free open source software and operating systems... If the free versions are protected (doubtful) then this would truly be a breakthrough.
This will just backfire in Microsofts face. The idiots that actually go through MS for this, will learn a valuable lesson: they do not need MS, in fact they are held back by them.
Next, if they try to use it to lay false claims against OSS and bring down Novell, it will not hurt OSS in the least. openSuSE will just fork and move on.
There is no reason for protection against MS. If they had any evidence of copyright or patent claims, they would come right out and say it. Like SCO, MS has nothing. This is just an attempt to skulk around in the shadows and play boogyman.
If MS spent as much time and effort in developing software then they do in trying to combat piracy and bring down OSS(2 seperate issues), then they might have an OS that could rival Linux or OSX. Instead, all they have is an insecure, bloated, overpriced, "me-too" piece of garbage.
I think not. Look at the facts: Every threat to Microsoft's illegal monopolistic behaviors and practices is met with "Embrace and Extend" or "Embrace and Extinguish." This situation is no different. Microsoft has no desire to see this agreement work.
how things went for them.
I think MSFT is trying for the same play here (to wit: "Embrace,
Extend, Extinguish"). That said, I think MSFT seriously
underestimates what they think they're getting into here.
That, or they're trying to wipe out at least one distro maker, that
being Novell. Problem is, RedHat's distro and its variants are
dominant... even if SuSE fell off the Earth tomorrow, it wouldn't
slow down Linux' dominance in the server arena, or its explosive
growth elsewhere.
/P