Linux Violates Microsoft's Patents - part 3

Linux Violates Microsoft's Patents

Shock and awe

There are many players who rely on GNU/Linux, and here was a possibility to use a shock and awe strategy to intimidate them. Observers feel that this move might scare those players, forcing them to sign cross-licensing deals with Microsoft. The best thing Microsoft could come out with was fresh claims that GNU/Linux infringes on its patents. Only this time, it gave a number as well -- 235.

But the GNU/Linux community seems unaffected. ''There are collective industry groups like the Open Innovation Network and our own legal programmes at the Linux Foundation that aggregate patents against predatory patent trolls. With our members' backing, the Linux Foundation has created a legal defence fund to protect users or developers of open source software against malicious attack. While we don't expect to, we will invoke this fund, if needed, to defend Linux,'' avers Zemlin.

The confidence in organisations like OIN is deeply rooted within the FOSS community. ''I sleep pretty well at night without a concern that there is some time bomb that Microsoft could set off that would overnight remove my ability to use critical open source software. I do not plan to have to pay Microsoft any money; at worst, I might have to give up a feature here or there that has to have a workaround because none of the above approaches work. Despite that, it's worth worrying enough about the issue to make sure we have strong legal institutions in open source -- the non-profits around major foundations, the Software Freedom Law Centre, the Open Innovation Network, etc,'' says Behlendorf.

In the wake of these allegations, Rosenthal decided to shoulder the task of building trust and a sense of security amongst GNU/Linux players, by stating, ''This is not the first time that unsubstantiated claims of patent infringement have been levelled at Linux. Moreover, just as in the past, these claims are made without disclosing any evidence. It's time to stop the accusations and show the evidence.''

Name it to claim it

Microsoft has not yet revealed the specific infringements, although it has described the areas. "Out of the 235 patents it claims to have been violated by GNU/Linux, 42 are said to be part of the Linux kernel, about 45 are part of OpenOffice.org, and about 65 are related to the graphical user interfaces (in GNOME and KDE, for example),'' says Tony Wasserman, executive director, Centre for Open Source Investigation, and director, the Software Management programme, Carnegie Mellon West.

According to Lachal, ''Microsoft has been claiming that open source software infringes on its patents for some time but had so far declined to give any details. Microsoft is still refusing to specify which patents are being infringed (a common stance among IP holders: it is not in their interest to divulge their IP cards until it becomes legally necessary).''

''It's important to note that the US Patents and Trademarks Office has very little expertise in the area of software, which makes it possible for someone to patent almost anything. It's hard to know if Microsoft's patent claims would be upheld if they were challenged and reviewed,'' adds Wasserman.

Behlendorf, too, is not buying any of Microsoft's claims, ''Until they reveal specifics about which patents they feel conflicted, there's really no way to determine how concrete their claims are.''

Defending the company's claims, Horacio Gutierrez, vice president of intellectual property and licensing, Microsoft, says, ''Even the founder of the Free Software Foundation, Richard Stallman, noted last year that Linux infringes well over 200 patents from multiple companies. The real question is not whether The real question is not whether there exist substantial patent infringement issues, but what to do about them. Microsoft and Novell have already developed a solution that meets the needs of customers, furthers interoperability, and advances the interests of the industry as a whole. Any customer that is concerned about Linux IP issues needs only to obtain their open source subscriptions from Novell.''

Ironically, even Microsoft's closest ally in the open source world, Novell, doesn't seem happy with the allegations made by Microsoft. Bruce Lowry, director, global public relations corporate services, Novell, writes on the Novell Open PR, ''There's an article out in Fortune Magazine talking about Microsoft, intellectual property and open source. Because of our interoperability agreement with Microsoft, which includes a patent element, Novell is featured in the story. We've received a number of inquiries about the story, in which Microsoft lays out the specific number of patents it claims are violated in Linux and other open source projects. While providing numbers is new, the claims that violations exist are not new. In response to similar Microsoft claims back in November, we put out an open letter from our CEO, Ron Hovsepian, which states our position on this issue. That position hasn't changed.''

Hovsepian wrote in that open letter, ''We disagree with the recent statements made by Microsoft on the topic of Linux and patents. Importantly, our agreement with Microsoft is in no way an acknowledgment that Linux infringes upon any Microsoft intellectual property. When we entered the patent cooperation agreement with Microsoft, Novell did not agree or admit that Linux or any other Novell offering violates Microsoft patents.''