The spears symbolize lawsuits...
I recently had to write a very long research paper on the 2006 happenings of Microsoft’s long winded lawsuit against the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) community, and it made me think. I wish it didn’t make me think, because we all know how much that gets on my nerves. I started to think, “Why are there SO MANY patents floating around Silicone Valley and why don’t companies implement them?” After some time passed, a headache ensued and I had to take a pill and pass out, I apparently over worked myself (LOL). After a nice nap and additional thinking, I realized it is all in the sake of the capitalistic motto, “What’s mine is mine, and if you infringe on what’s mine, I want royalties to make me feel better”. Microsoft ended up making a deal with FOSS companies and now they “happily” work together… maybe.
This brings me to where I am now with this whole story of “Patents Gone Wild”.
Right now, the mobile world is being tested like the computer industry was. We have;
- Microsoft suing Motorola (and vice versa)
- Kodak suing Samsung and LG
- Apple suing HTC
- Oracle suing Google
- Nokia, well their suing just about everyone
And this is just the beginning.
What I would like to see is all of these patents brought to light and gone over with a fine toothed comb! Why are there so many damn patents? Why can we just see companies work together for the betterment of the customers?
I really don’t want to go over all of this by myself, and to speak the truth I think this is more likely a topic for Android After Dark. This is more of a stepping stone for all of you to voice your opinion in the comment section below.
So, what are you waiting for? This is your written invitation!
3 Responses
I personally think it's a HUGE circle jerk over royalties/usage rights. One company is using something I own, I want to use something they have, "Hey lawyers! Can we sure them over this to try and get leverage to use this? Yes? Sweet, here's what we need you to do……" I believe it started with Nokia suing Apple over GSM technology, probably to get multi-touch technology rights, proceed with snowball from there. That's my 2 cents.
My partner and I stumbled over here coming from a different web page and thought I might as well check things out. I like what I see so now i’m following you. Look forward to looking over your web page yet again.
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