Linux Foundation ready to fight Microsoft if TomTom lawsuit involves Linux kernel
Summary: The Linux Foundation insists it is equipped to fight Microsoft if the software giant’s lawsuit against TomTom impacts the open source Linux kernel.In his blog, Executive Director Jim Zemlin advised concerned parties to “calm down” in light of statements by Microsoft’s deputy general counsel that it is targeting TomTom’s GPS mapping software and not Linux.
The Linux Foundation insists it is equipped to fight Microsoft if the software giant’s lawsuit against TomTom impacts the open source Linux kernel.
In his blog, Executive Director Jim Zemlin advised concerned parties to “calm down” in light of statements by Microsoft’s deputy general counsel that it is targeting TomTom’s GPS mapping software and not Linux.
Yet Zemlin was quick to reassure the community that the foundation and Open Invention* Network has the funds necessary to defend Linux if necessary. TomTom’s GPS mapping software incorporates the Linux kernel. Below is an excerpt of Zemlin’s blog:
Calm Down
Right now the Microsoft claim against Tom Tom is a private dispute between those two entities concerning GPS mapping software. 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. Any patent litigator will tell you that the path between asserting a claim under a patent and an actual, final determination that the patent is (1)valid and (2) that the claims of the patent are actually infringed is an extremely long road. If this case is in any way directed at Linux (in fact, Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft’s corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing, has specifically stated that it isn’t), the Linux ecosystem has enormously sophisticated resources available to assist in the defense of any claim that is made against Linux.
Hope for the Best
It is our sincere hope that Microsoft will realize that cases like these only burden the software industry and do not serve their customers’ best interests. Instead of litigating, we believe customers prefer software companies to focus on building innovative products.
Plan for the Worst
The Linux Foundation is working closely with our partner the Open Invention Network, and our members, and is well prepared for any claims against Linux. We have great confidence in the foundation they have laid. Unfortunately, claims like these are a by-product of our business and legal system today. For now, we are closely watching the situation and will remain ready to mount a Linux’s defense, should the need arise.
And it just might arise. In her blog, Mary Jo Foley cites an online report by TechFlash’s Todd Bishop, which maintains that Microsoft in its lawsuit alleges that TomTom’s products violate eight of its patents, including three related to TomTom’s implementation of the Linux kernel.
Microsoft's Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft’s corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing, said the case targets GPS mapping software -- not Linux per se -- but we'll have to wait and see how the patent claims pan out.
I can think of at least two reasons why Microsoft chose to take on TomTom: TomTom's new personal navigation devices carry a Go Live and Live Services product naming -- the same branding used by Microsoft for its next gen web services. And those devices just hit the U.S. market last month.
*It is the Open Invention Network, not Open innovation Network as originally published. I regret the error.
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Talkback
A mixed barrel of fish.
1. We are in a post-Bilski situation......software patents (which seem to be at the heart of this suit) have lost most of their hitting power:
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20090226070041454
2. The FAT/VFAT patents which seem to be the principal ones involved are also in a pretty precarious situation. The first url below shows the current situation which essentially means that it is all fairly fragile for Microsoft, and the second url gives Andy Updegrove's (Andy is in a technological law firm) take on the matter:
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Windows/FAT-Patent-Fight-Not-Over-Yet/
http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20090226062840462
Now if you put both of these together, you come up with the fact that Microsoft has much more to lose by alienating the Linux world because it will respond with prior art and the full force of the entire Linux movement. The other aspect is that TomTom is in Holland and the EU which tends to frown on any attempt by Microsoft to reduce interoperability between computer systems.
So what is Microsoft up to ? This almost looks like it is deliberately putting its hand into the fire. Perhaps this might help:
http://blogs.computerworld.com/could_microsoft_be_trying_to_acquire_tomtom
If this IS the case, it seems a rather messy way of so doing....... I repeat what I said earlier: Microsoft is playing with fire in this effort and so far, I cannot see a definite reason except blind dependence on their outdated attack mode of litigation if they do not get their own way.
And Paula could be dead right...
The odd thing is...
The EU is not as corrupt and silly as the American legal system and will fine Microsoft on all it's criminal activities in the long run.
It has to do with tracking short & long filenames
Unless Tom-Tom exactly replicates the Windows method, it would seem that similar methods for doing this would simply be obvious (in the patent sense of obvious versus non-obvious).
http://www.google.com/patents?id=cLAkAAAAEBAJ&dq=5,579,517
For a linked list of the patents:
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090225/1727233903.shtml
I seriously doubt this is about MS branding.
I think this is punishment/pressure of TomTom by MS.
TomTom was solicited, they refused, and MS doesn't like that, so is pressuring them to sign up. Had Brother not "agreed", they would have been sued, etc. It is a long term strategy to hedge their bets and maintain long term revenue should they start to seriously lose desktop marketshare.
MS will bend over backwards to not attack Linux, and even the wording "including three related to TomTom?s implementation of the Linux kernel." pulls back. Not the kernel but TomTom's implementation (what secret sauce did they add to the kernel).
TripleII
Nice
Many have been preparing for what some see as inevitable. When their stock price continues to tank and GNU/Linux continues to gain marketshare, MS will resort to the courts and attempt to take advantage of the huge investment in their extensive political lobbying apparatus to further corrupt the system.
Of course an attack on Linux is a threat to the likes of IBM, Google, Amazon and others. I doubt they will stand idle in the event of a serious attack.
When corporations attack
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.
Ah yes, the dinosaur. Threshing around while its financial habitat evolves around it, beyond it. This credit-crunch malarky, is only just beginning. Open source will become synonymous with economic survival in the world that will follow the coming financial maelstrom.
Can I say 'maelstrom'? Didn't Microsoft already patent the fundamental English characters A,E,I,O,U and $?
RE: Linux Foundation ready to fight Microsoft if TomTom lawsuit involves Linux kernel
RE: Linux Foundation ready to fight Microsoft if TomTom lawsuit involves Li
What to expect from MS ...
I just compared Garmin to TomTom
Map updates are free with TomTom, Garmin you must pay more Microsoft royalties.
Garmin supports Microsoft - the main reason why I can't go this route (I put my money where my mouth is - and that's anywhere MS is not (hence my move to Apple years ago).
uh oh...
DOH!
http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/06/apple-licenses-activesync-for-the-iphone/
Looks like some of that Apple money goes to Microsoft as well.
Doesn't effect me.
Fine by me...
Seems a bit... well, you know.
But do as you please.
Blind support
By the way, it's Affect, not Effect.
And more Apple money will go to M$ to bail them out. Just wait and see!
Sure they will... <nt>
Like the late 90s?
no they didnt..