Bang the TomTom slowly
Summary: Sometimes a suit is just a suit. (What was Frank Langella actually doing when Nixon was President?
Sometimes a suit is just a suit. (What was Frank Langella actually doing when Nixon was President? Stay tuned.)
Eben Moglen and the Software Freedom Law Center are thinking about getting involved in the patent suit Microsoft filed against TomTom, writes our Elinor Mills.
The group's blog is, as of this writing, silent on the matter, so cogitation is likely continuing. Please be quiet as you walk by.
A quick glance indicates this may have nothing to do with Linux at all. The patents at issue involve putting a computer in a car, the Microsoft FAT, and some business method patents for which new defenses exist.
The fear, which I admit I'm catching in the penumbra of comments from Bruce Perens and Keith Bergelt of the Open Invention Network, is that this may be a negotiating ploy aimed at getting TomTom to do a patent cross-license, which would include Microsoft's Linux claims.
Microsoft's claims to control technology in Linux have never been litigated yet the company keeps signing cross-licenses, and collecting money from vendors, as though they are valid. Even invalid claims are valid once they're accepted.
This is probably what Moglen and company are thinking about. Fight them over there so you won't have to fight them over here.
Fortunately there are cooler heads, like Jim Zemlin of the Linux Foundation. (BTW, the picture on your blog makes you look 15, Jim -- I'm jealous.)
I disagree with my esteemed colleague Paula Rooney on what Zemlin's post means. If and if and if we will go to war does not mean the buglar is sounding charge or even pursing his lips. Here is the key bit to me:
We do not feel assumptions should be made about the scope or facts of this case and its inclusion, if any, of Linux-related technology.
Here is another key bit.
Calm down.
Zemlin's message is to hope for the best and plan for the worst. I think he was going for a Mel Brooks lyric from his least-known classic, "The 12 Chairs":
Oh, and in the picture at the top, taken from the movie, Langella is the young man at the right. And when the movie came out Microsoft was barely a gleam in Bill Gates' eye. Point being time heals all wounds and wounds all heals. If you freak at every change you go crazy.
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Talkback
Bang the TomTom slowly but surely
The fact of the matter is, the "Linux Kernel" was mentioned by name.
^o^
<br>
Mention is one thing...
RE: Mention is one thing...
And mentioned in a "<strong>law suit</strong>" is another.
^o^
<br>
Very True
or a party to that law suit is yet another
thing. If SFLC decides that last is the case,
they might want to talk with TomTom.
Well gee, n0neXn0ne.
RE: ... gee, almost forgot
I just fire off a note to self. :D
Hence they know.
^o^
<br>
Still, if we let MS keep threatening, and demanding cross licensing
If TomTom caves, look for MS to continue going after small, relatively unknown players using Linux in their products.
The other background goal here is to make it look risky to use Linux for devices. MS does not make anything significant on Windows CE, but, a world where all of the gadgets use Linux, reduces the importance of Windows, and increases the knowledge and awareness of Linux.
It will be up to the community.
You might see even non Open Source companies like Sandisk or Cisco (if VFAT impacts them in any way) jump into the case. That's the item that has held MS at bay all this time, the knowledge that a direct salvo at Open Source will bring the brunt of hundreds of companies down on them like a ton of bricks in a mutual assured destruction scenario.
I said it back in 2006 when MS was threatening to sue RedHat, it won't happen, MS is, on the global scene, one dinky little company compared to the thousands who now rely on Linux directly for revenue (to some extent) and millions of companies who use Linux to run their business.
If this even starts to grow into an MS vs Linux/Open Source suit, expect a very rapid retreat by MS.
TripleII
And, maybe TomTom should try to turn this more into a Linux vs MS thing.
RE: Bang the TomTom slowly
I still wonder if Open Source can proactively force MS.
TripleII
This might be a good time for others to pile on and get at least the VFAT
This may be what the SFLC is thinking
and if TomTom agrees to let SFLC fight on its
behalf, and if the case goes to trial and
Microsoft loses....
See why I advocated quiet while walking past
their offices. A lot of ifs there.
As when MS was about to lose the trademark on Windows, MS folded really
RE: Bang the TomTom slowly
after tom tom. if they get all this BS going how many
other products that we connect to a pc are going to
have to bow down ????
this can lead to so many things I really fear at the
state of it.
Beat this
Surely it's obvious what Microsoft are doing? They want to put Tom-Tom out of business and create Fear in the open source universe.
The charges laid against Tom Tom are irrelevant. They might just as well have claimed that they had a patent on 'Naming an in car device after any percussive instrument". They don't need to prove the charge, they just need to get Tom-Tom into court. Microsoft - war-chest over $80 billion. They can fund a team of 200 lawyers for 20 years on their loose change.
Tom-Tom - bled dry, just by fighting the case in court, with its attendant crippling costs and blows to corporate moral. Bled dry and destroyed, and let that be a lesson to ALL who dare threaten the Microsoft dinosaur.
I know that my Navman S50 - no doubt 'Licensed by Microsoft' - will not talk to my Mac. It's Windows only. So because the Sat Nav device is polluted with Microsoft, I can't access the functionality I've p[aid for unless I also pay a Microsoft tax. That's the strategy, any way. So I'm forced to borrow a Windows system to download new maps, upload photos - Microsoft suddenly own my sat nav, suddenly the sat nav I paid Navman for is dtelling me that unless I plug it into Windows, it isn't going to let me access stuff I've paid for. Yes, I'm wondering whether it was the wrong decisicon to go with the biggest, widest display.
"You shouldn't have bought a Navman then", chant the Microsofties. "Nobody MADE you buy it, did they?"
So I guess I should have bought a Mac compatible sat nav, eh? Like the Tom-Tom, you mean? Ahhh, now you see why Microsoft want Tom-Tom out of business.
Am I allowed to say 'Tom-Tom'?
Haven't Microsoft already patented the characters A,E,I,O,U and $?
SFLC
before the court, either for free or for a
fairly low rate.
I know they have to investigate, and see how
good a case they have, before they step in.
This may be the case they are looking for. Or it
may not. They will decide that. Zemlin says
chill.
Well I'm supporting TomTom
Map updates are free with TomTom, Garmin you must pay more Microsoft royalties.
Garmin uses way too much Microsoft - the main reason why I can't go this route (I put my money where my mouth is - and that's anywhere MS is not (hence my move to Apple years ago).
Frankly, this cross-licensing thing is just Microsofts new way to control all tech. I am more than happy to support those who support multiple choices (TomTom supports Mac OS X and not only Windows).
Support in the market vs. court
they chose to knuckle under and avoid a court
fight? Say do a cross-license deal in which no
money changed hands.
Just wondering.
Software in Europe is not patentable
I remember a few years ago that the French fined MS several million euros for copyright infringement.
Why is MS so concerned about competition from a small company like Tom-Tom, could they be realising that most of the world hates them?