4 ms·

Is it just me or is this actually genius? Mutually assured destruction has been the name of the game for big companies for a while now, but that wasn't practica

by nohat 10y ago

Is it just me or is this actually genius? Mutually assured destruction has been the name of the game for big companies for a while now, but that wasn't practical for small players. If Microsoft is willing to take small companies under its umbrella, it could be quite effective and helpful. Seems like what they actually do is provide you the opportunity to buy a hand selected legal weapon, but that threat may well make azure a little safer for small companies and startups. Will Google and Amazon feel pressured to follow suit? Of course this doesn't work against patent trolls, because they have no products to sue over. As long as Microsoft doesn't start threatening to sue companies that use aws or something, I have to applaud this move.

Clubber 10y ago
It's remarkable. The whole Lodsys et. al. thing terrified me during the App boom. Why it was terrifying is because it costs trolls very little to file a suit and would cost me hundreds of thousands to defend, even if their patent was crap. Unfortunately, I don't think Microsoft is offering legal assistance, which would make it really amazing.
2_listerine_pls 10y ago
They don't have to sue you overtly. Think of Intellectual Ventures as an example. IV licenses patents for litigation but pretend to be inventors. I say pretend because most of their revenue comes from litigation, while publicly promote their inventions. If anyone is interested, there is an old, but relevant, NPR podcast about them and the use of shell companies to hide their identity. I believe reading that MS has a stake on IV, but I can't find anything on that. IV founder was MS' CTO. It can also be done covertly. Oh...and just found this: https://www.google.com.mx/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjMotbBz9zSAhXIiSwKHSNdAloQFgg8MAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftechrights.org%2F2017%2F02%2F28%2Fxinova-is-invention-development-fund%2F&usg=AFQjCNGqM0QJTykTpaWkw9xe35MTWOwAbQ https://www.google.com.mx/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=we...

by nohat 10y ago

Clubber 10y ago

It's remarkable. The whole Lodsys et. al. thing terrified me during the App boom. Why it was terrifying is because it costs trolls very little to file a suit and would cost me hundreds of thousands to defend, even if their patent was crap. Unfortunately, I don't think Microsoft is offering legal assistance, which would make it really amazing.

2_listerine_pls 10y ago

They don't have to sue you overtly. Think of Intellectual Ventures as an example. IV licenses patents for litigation but pretend to be inventors. I say pretend because most of their revenue comes from litigation, while publicly promote their inventions. If anyone is interested, there is an old, but relevant, NPR podcast about them and the use of shell companies to hide their identity. I believe reading that MS has a stake on IV, but I can't find anything on that. IV founder was MS' CTO. It can also be done covertly. Oh...and just found this: https://www.google.com.mx/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjMotbBz9zSAhXIiSwKHSNdAloQFgg8MAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftechrights.org%2F2017%2F02%2F28%2Fxinova-is-invention-development-fund%2F&usg=AFQjCNGqM0QJTykTpaWkw9xe35MTWOwAbQ https://www.google.com.mx/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=we...