The warning sound of TomTom
Summary
Topics
The TomTom claims cover such things as a multitasking computer on which you can run programs, in a car. A wireless internet-connected computer, in a car. And how to create long file names in the MS-DOS filing system — a fix introduced in Windows 95 because MS-DOS is a direct descendent of 1974's vintage 8-bit CP/M operating system. A direct descendant? More a bastard child: MS-DOS helped itself freely to many of CP/M's design concepts, in some detail.
But those were the days when Bill Gates could say that software patents had the potential to put the industry at "a complete standstill" and with good reason. If the sort of protection Microsoft now claims for itself had been available to CP/M then, Microsoft would never have created its monopoly, nor amassed a fraction of its power.
See also:
- Has Microsoft fired its first shot in the patent war against Linux?
- Linux gets ready to fight Microsoft
- Bang the TomTom slowly
- Microsoft sues TomTom - involves Linux
Now it has, the rules have changed. Microsoft is perfectly happy, while proclaiming openness and interoperability, to find a company in dire financial straits and then threaten it with expensive legal action over what any self-respecting programmer would identify as a hackish kludge — something that advances the art of computer software not one bit.
Microsoft has taken an interesting path to the point where it now finds itself comfortable reducing the rest of the industry to that "complete standstill". When it first decided in 2003 that its FAT filing system should be licensed, Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith told us that revenue generation wasn't the idea: "Fundamentally, that's not why we are doing this. We are doing this to work better and promote better collaboration with the industry."
We can talk all day as to whether this is an attack on Linux (Microsoft denies this while repeatedly citing the OS in its claims), an attempt to frighten others into settling without going to court to test the patents, or a cynical move, driving TomTom into the ground to facilitate a purchase. Working better and promoting better collaboration, however, is not on the menu.
The patent system is not just broken, it is poisonous. It works by fear, using the civil courts as cudgels in the hands of bullies. In the process, it despoils its main purpose: what valid, proportionate claims Microsoft may have in the rest of its case against TomTom hardly matter.
Everything in this case is a perversion of how intellectual property should be used, commercialized and shared. We salute TomTom for standing firm, and urge the rest of the industry to find and stick to a fairer, more sensible way of dealing with shared IP.
This article was originally posted on ZDNet.co.uk.
Talkback Most Recent of 20 Talkback(s)
-
As my grandmother used to say...
..."there's nothing worse than a reformed sinner."
IT_Guy_z27th Feb 2009 -
Granny is partly right
While I agree with "Granny", I question whether Microsoft is at all "reformed". I have watched since M$ usurped CP/M and DR DOS. They have come through "co-operative" ventures such as Win95/OS2 and driven onwards and upwards. As their upward progress stalls, they appear to want to step upon the heads of others whenever they can get away with it. They have been stopped by the demonstration of "prior technology" before. It rightly should happen again in this case.
Sagax-27th Feb 2009 -
Sinner? Business is business
But surely that's in a way the duty of any business under the capitalist free-market system. It's for the law makers to prevent this "abuse", not for businesses to distract themselves from profit making and strengthening their market position with issues of morality.
alec.wood@...4th Mar 2009 -
If someone will point me...
..to Tom Tom's defense fund, I'll make a contribution.
Feral Urchin27th Feb 2009 -
Better to contribute to the Software Freedom Law Center. They may end up
helping TomTom here anyway.
http://www.softwarefreedom.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_Freedom_Law_Center
DonnieBoy27th Feb 2009 -
So you believe that it is fine for a company
to infringe on another company's patent?
Ask your employer if they would agree with you, and see if you are still employed there come Monday morning.
GuidingLight27th Feb 2009 -
So you believe that paying ransom to patent trolls is fine
Ask your employer if they would agree with you, and see if you are still employed there come Monday morning.
InAction Man27th Feb 2009 -
Paying Ransom to trolls? Seems you have made up your mind
allready, without hearing the facts or issues in court, that Microsoft is in the wrong, so any argument would be pointless as you have already chosen who is "right".
So I will modify the statement accordingly:
I guess you believe that it is acceptable to honor patents unless they are Microsoft's patents, then it is OK to infringe on them.
Where we live, we would label you a "hypocrite".GuidingLight27th Feb 2009 -
I would give you the middle finger
But I fear m$ has patented it. I can't afford to mess up with their innovations.InAction Man27th Feb 2009 -
Finally!
You know, InAction Man, you finally said something funny. I actually laughed out loud at that one. Now, what I wanna know is, who are you and what did you do with the REAL InAction Man?
MGP227th Feb 2009 -
I believe you mean "hippocrite"
Where we live, we would label you a "hypocrite".
hippocrite: Hypocrosy of hippopotamus proportions.
Anyone old enough to remember "sniglets"?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sniglet
MGP227th Feb 2009 -
I believe that m$ should patent the middle finger.
Then, anyone who gives them a middle finger is automatically obligated to write them a royalty check. Pretty soon they would have the whole word working for them, night and day.InAction Man27th Feb 2009 -
i hate hypocrites.
MS is one of them. So are most people when it suites their needs.
Been_Done_Before27th Feb 2009 -
Wrong wrong wrong....
TomTom has stolen valuable IP from Microsoft. The VFAT filesystem is elegant and refined and was the cornerstone of such wonders as Windows 95. How dare ANYONE interfere with Microsoft's ability to innovate. How can we expect Microsoft to continue to deliver such stellar releases as Windows 7 if the risk of someone just stealing their code is not addressed. I for one only use Windows powered GPS devices and believe the future of GPS will be a device where one can use SharePoint to program the device.
Mike Cox27th Feb 2009 -
Patent threats are all MS has left
Why make a better product when you can use patent threats? Probably because that's all that is left of MS. Cross-licensing patents is the only way that MS can see to retain customers in the face of real competition from Linux.
Mike, you might want to watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YExl9ojclo
It's instructive on the course of events since the Novell-MS agreement.
So keep astro-turfing, Mike. It makes for great entertainment.
epitax27th Feb 2009
Talkback - Tell Us What You Think
The best of ZDNet, delivered
ZDNet Newsletters
Get the best of ZDNet delivered straight to your inbox
Facebook Activity
