Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 16th May 2007 09:42 UTC, submitted by FreeRhino
Microsoft has said it will not sue Linux users with regards to the company's patent claims. "We're not litigating. If we wanted to we would have done so years ago," said Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft's VP for intellectual property and licensing, in an interview. When asked for a reply regarding the claim of Microsoft that the Linux kernel infringes 42 of its patents, Linus Torvalds replied: "Can you get a list of which ones? Before that, it's just FUD, and there's not a whole lot I can say or do. Is there prior art? Are they trivial and obvious to one skilled in the art? Would we need to work around them? We don't know, because all I've heard so far is just FUD. If MS actually wanted us to not infringe their patents, they'd tell us. Since they don't, that must mean that they actually prefer the FUD."
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Member since:
2005-11-05
Unlike some others, perhaps, I like the terms Fud, Fudster and Fudsterism. They have a clear and potent meaning. They are good, Anglo-Saxon sounding terms with a strong suggestion of something rotten and slimey at work. Ronald Reagan tried very hard to become the Gipper, and did. It seems that Steve Ballmer is trying equally hard to become the Fudster.
After all, has Microsoft gained a thing from this episode? Nope. Horacio Gutierrez's statement has made both Ballmer and Smith look stupid. The strength and breadth of the opposition to Microsoft's schemes has become even clearer than it was. The patent system has been thrown further into disrepute. Chances are, more than a few of Microsoft's "friends in the media" have taken note and in future may be a little less keen on repeating the party line. That's a lot in the minus column this week, and nothing in the plus one.
This isn't something Microsoft can possibly win. Every time the Fudster shoots his mouth off, more and more people see a corporation that simply does not know how to deal with a changed world.