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Can Amazon actually patent their API (per the google vs oracle case) - basically like prevent other vendors to provide S3 APIs so that Amazon can lock in users.

by sida 6y ago

Can Amazon actually patent their API (per the google vs oracle case) - basically like prevent other vendors to provide S3 APIs so that Amazon can lock in users. I am not a lawyer. So this is a genuine / dumb question.

brianwski 6y ago
Disclaimer: I work at Backblaze. I'm also not a lawyer. :-) > Can Amazon actually patent their API (per the google vs oracle case) - basically like prevent other vendors to provide S3 APIs so that Amazon can lock in users. Most likely yes. Backblaze plans going forward are to fully, uncompromisingly maintain our original native B2 APIs for a few reasons including this concern. It's probably up to Amazon whether they want to boot all 3rd parties off their S3 API. Backblaze has a viable fallback if that occurs. I hope for customer's sake Amazon doesn't declare war in that fashion. If Amazon decides on this path, internally at Backblaze we have discussed immediately doing the opposite - declaring for all of time anybody can copy our B2 APIs. Remember, our APIs are technically superior to the S3 APIs. They are lower cost to implement, and are shockingly easier to use for developers. They don't make all the mistakes S3 made. We had the luxury of learning from all their mistakes over the years. :-)
- sida 6y ago
  This is kind of scary that companies can patent an interface. So google cloud is actually expected to also have this potential legal time bomb? Amazon can sue you and retroactively force you to pay them right? So all they need to do is to wait for the alternatives to become popular
  - swyx 6y ago
    thats very short term thinking though. you win the battle but lose the war by being so partner-hostile. amazon has thousands of partners pay to join it at re:invent for a reason.
anderspitman 6y ago
I suspect a move like that would trigger a cloudpocalpyse that would actually be beneficial in the mid- and long-term.

by sida 6y ago

brianwski 6y ago

Disclaimer: I work at Backblaze. I'm also not a lawyer. :-) > Can Amazon actually patent their API (per the google vs oracle case) - basically like prevent other vendors to provide S3 APIs so that Amazon can lock in users. Most likely yes. Backblaze plans going forward are to fully, uncompromisingly maintain our original native B2 APIs for a few reasons including this concern. It's probably up to Amazon whether they want to boot all 3rd parties off their S3 API. Backblaze has a viable fallback if that occurs. I hope for customer's sake Amazon doesn't declare war in that fashion. If Amazon decides on this path, internally at Backblaze we have discussed immediately doing the opposite - declaring for all of time anybody can copy our B2 APIs. Remember, our APIs are technically superior to the S3 APIs. They are lower cost to implement, and are shockingly easier to use for developers. They don't make all the mistakes S3 made. We had the luxury of learning from all their mistakes over the years. :-)

sida 6y ago
This is kind of scary that companies can patent an interface. So google cloud is actually expected to also have this potential legal time bomb? Amazon can sue you and retroactively force you to pay them right? So all they need to do is to wait for the alternatives to become popular
- swyx 6y ago
  thats very short term thinking though. you win the battle but lose the war by being so partner-hostile. amazon has thousands of partners pay to join it at re:invent for a reason.

anderspitman 6y ago

I suspect a move like that would trigger a cloudpocalpyse that would actually be beneficial in the mid- and long-term.