Groklaw reports that a company called IP Innovation, LLC, has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Novell and Red Hat. Groklaw goes into black helicopter mode, trying to find a tie between this IP Innovation thing and Microsoft - and it finds it too. A few ex-Microsoft employees now work at IP Innovation. Do with it as you please.
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Member since:2005-06-29
Not only that, but I would like to see the backgrounds on other employees at this Innovation thing too. I mean, what if one of them worked for the US gov.? Does that mean the government is involved??
Seriously now, Groklaw might very well be right - but the 'evidence' presented is extremely weak - at best.
Member since:2005-11-11
RE[2]: reasonable former employment
Member since:2005-10-02
Naah.. there are no such things as coincidences.
July: A former Microsoft boss is hired.
Beginning of October: A former Microsoft boss is hired.
Beginning of October: Steve Ballmer, Microsoft, threatens to sue Red Hat over patents.
A week later in October. The company hiring two Microsoft bosses sues Red Hat over patents.
Oh well, it'll be fun to see the microserfs in here going in defense mode instantly. Including OSN-staff.
EDIT: Add to that the fact Microsoft sponsored SCO's suits against IBM, Red Hat and Novell. One can do whatever he wants to dismiss it as "coincidences" (though no such thing exists) - but there are an awful lot of these "coincidences" (again, coincidences do not exist - they are just a term for something that fits together too well and cannot be explained without having to accept an unpleasant truth).
Edited 2007-10-12 14:55 UTC
Member since:2005-07-06
How could the government be involved? EVERYONE knows that the government is actually controlled by a sinister cabal consisting of the Illuminati, the Knights Templar, the Reptilians and the International House of Pancakes. First they fake a moon landing, and now this!!!
Member since:2005-12-31
>>Microsoft is a HUGE employer in the tech industry, particularly in the area of IP. That someone would go from MS to a patent holding company seems to me to be a fairly reasonable career move rather than conspiracy.<<
But there is more to it than that. Msft and the patent troll company just came to some sort of agreement last August. Also, this action immediately follows Ballmer's thinly veiled threats against redhat.
Furthermore, the editors of this site bashing groklaw about "black helicoptor mode" is not justified. PJ has been amazingly accurate, and honest, all along. Certainly PJ has more accurate than the standard tech-pop-media.
Member since:2006-04-20
It is hardly unusual for a large company like Microsoft to have relationships with a number of other companies and to use their services or join forces to achieve common goals - this is pretty normal in the business world. It is also pretty normal for people in one company working closely with another company to decide that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence and to move from one company to the other - I've done this myself on occasion. And it is again quite common for one company dealing with another company to poach staff from the other.
This is not remotely unusual or suspect in the business world. Many organisations require staff to sign a declaration as to whether they have any perceived or actual conflict of interest if they move from one company to another which has or had a business relationship with their former employer. If an employee of IP Innovations owns shares in Microsoft (or vice versa), that would be a perceived conflict of interest, and most likely the organisation would require that employee to divest themselves of those shares (or at the very least declare their interest), or face termination.
MS and other companies who own (or claim to own) IP have a shared interest in pursuing organisations or individuals that they perceive as violating their IP. Sharing resources & personnel to do this is quite legitimate, and does not constitute a conspiracy in any nefarious or criminal sense. Corporations join forces all the time to fight common battles - this is normal.
If Red Hat has not done anything wrong, they have nothing to worry about.
Member since:
2006-01-24
Not to defend their actions in any way, but frankly Microsoft is a HUGE employer in the tech industry, particularly in the area of IP. That someone would go from MS to a patent holding company seems to me to be a fairly reasonable career move rather than conspiracy.