Linux Violates Microsoft's Patents - part 2

Linux Violates Microsoft's Patents

Get them before they get you

The industry seemed to be well aware of Microsoft's intentions. There was a remote fear within the industry that Microsoft might use its patent portfolio to scare other companies and force them to sign cross licensing deals. Biggies like IBM, with larger patent portfolios than Microsoft, would be well prepared to counter Microsoft in court, but no one else would want to wrestle with the legal team of one of the world's biggest companies. So, some of the giants -- IBM, Novell, NEC, Sony, Red Hat and Philips -- came together and erected a firewall, Open Invention Network (OIN), as a shield against Microsoft's possible threats. Under the leadership of Jerry Rosenthal, ex-vice president, intellectual property and licensing business, IBM, OIN is committed to providing security to its members against any licensing threat posed by proprietary giants like Microsoft.

Jerry Rosenthal, as the chief executive officer of OIN, set out to acquire patent after patent, creating a pool for the open source community and corporate world. This pool of patents was to be used for cross-licensing purposes to defend the GNU/Linux environment, as well as to make these available to support GNU/ Linux by licensing them on a royaltyfree basis.

Microsoft exploits GPL's zero day vulnerability

The creation of OIN seemed to have thwarted Microsoft's plans to a great extent, but it couldn't let go of the lucrative open source market so easily. Microsoft succeeded in getting one of the GNU/Linux players, Novell, into its camp. On 2nd November 2006, Novell and Microsoft signed a pretty controversial deal. On the face of it, the deal was projected as an effort to smoothen interoperability between the two platforms, but there was surely something lurking behind the smokescreen. And it was pretty visible in the press release issued by the two companies: ''The patent cooperation agreement enables Microsoft and Novell to give customers assurance of protection against patent infringement claims. It gives customers confidence that the technologies they use and deploy in their environments are compliant with the two companies' patents.'' Through this deal, Microsoft not only got access to OSS, but also sent an indirect message that GNU/ Linux infringes on some of its patents. Thus, those who use Novell would remain immune to any lawsuit Microsoft may file against those who violate its patents.

This was a wake up call for the GNU/Linux community. The Free Software Foundation immediately got into the act and started discussions to revise and update the GNU GPL; to patch the holes that Microsoft had exploited to sign the deal with Novell.

Releasing the third discussion draft for GNU GPL version 3, on 28th March 2007, Richard Stallman, president of the FSF and principal author of the GNU GPL, wrote on the FSF website, ''The GPL was designed to ensure that all users of a program receive the four essential freedoms that define free software. These freedoms allow you to run the program as you see fit, study and adapt it for your own purposes, redistribute copies to help your neighbour and release your improvements to the public. The recent patent agreement between Microsoft and Novell aims to undermine these freedoms. In this draft, we have worked hard to prevent such deals from making a mockery of free software.''

However, even if the doors to exploit the 'zero day vulnerability' in GNU GPL were shut, there still seemed scope for Microsoft to not only make money out of the deal, but also re-enforce its claim that GNU/ Linux infringes on its patents. Microsoft then did something that infuriated the open source community even more. In the months of March and April, it signed controversial cross-licensing deals with Fuji Xerox and Samsung Electronics Co. It was made clear in the press release issued by Fuji Xerox that it ''will obtain access to Microsoft's patents for Fuji Xerox's existing and future product lines, including products that incorporate proprietary source and open source software, such open source software, such as Linux.'' Whereas the Samsung-Microsoft deal announcement read, ''...Samsung will also obtain coverage from Microsoft for its customers' use of certain Linux-based products.''

Experts believe that Microsoft has accomplished what it wanted to achieve. According to Laurent Lachal, director, open source research, Ovum, an independent research firm, ''It seems to work. Following the open source-specific patent agreement with Novell (which does not prevent Novell from suing Microsoft should the latter become too overly confident), the company has signed IP deals with Fuji Xerox and Samsung that cover both closed and open source software.''