5 ms·

Google is becoming more hypocritical by the day. First the Verizon deal. Next it was closing Android, now it is bidding on Nortel's patents as a protection powe

Google is becoming more hypocritical by the day. First the Verizon deal. Next it was closing Android, now it is bidding on Nortel's patents as a protection power-play (and I'm sure there are countless others, but those are the first I'm reminded of). This is a "sorry we're not sorry" blog post...I never understand this. Stop pretending to be a small company in big company's clothes: own up to being a part of the system you swore not to be a part of, and move on. Search works for me, so I'm still happy.

BarkMore 16y ago
What's hypocritical about building a defensive patent portfolio?
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
Kylekramer 16y ago
Google can be ideologically pure about patents being evil and subsequently get sued to oblivion, or they can acknowledged the current reality and fight it while staying safe themselves. I'd know one I would pick. For example, I disagree with marijuana laws, but I am not about to light up in front of a cop.
- dexen 16y ago
  And who's there to stop Google from abusing the patent pool in 4 years from now? Yes, they have been pretty considerate business up to now. But future is not merely a direct projection of past. A portfolio of patents is as much an obligation as an asset. You cannot arbitrarily enforce patents only against certain competitors, lest you risk the patent in question being shot down in arbitration or court case.
  - nolok 16y ago
    And who's there to stop whoever buy these patents from abusing the patent pool in 4 years from now? In that situation, I would much rather have google own them on the risk that they might do something evil with it (but probably not if we believe their history), than any of the other companies who already proved they would.
  - bad_user 16y ago
    A portfolio of patents becomes a liability sooner or later, no matter who owns it. The only one who can stop that is you -- by voting, lobbying or donating money to the EFF or similar organizations that are fighting against software patents. If enough people did this, we wouldn't have this conversation -- but the truth is, most people accepted the status-quo and/or have other priorities, so after a little bit of hand-waving, life goes back to normal and it's business as usual. And companies have the obligation to defend themselves -- they can't afford to just bitch-and-moan about this issue. And even companies acting in good-faith (if such a thing exists for companies) -- will choose the path of least resistance (i.e. building a patents portfolio). Otherwise, to make a (bad) analogy, it would be like going to war with "make love" signs. Don't hate the player, hate the game.
acconrad 16y ago
I had a funny feeling this would be downvoted.
- ascendant 16y ago
  It's the never ending battle between ideology vs pragmatism. In a perfect world, I'm sure they'd love to stick to their original creed of "Don't be evil", but pragmatism dictates that occasionally they have to bend their own rules from time to time to make sure food gets on the table for their thousands of employees. I'm not saying you're right or wrong, but I get the sense that most HNers fall into the "pragmatism" camp. In this particular case, my bat-sensor isn't really detecting anything malevolent afoot. They and their partners have been getting hammered on all sides by patent lawsuits and Google has more than enough cash to come out swinging, and this is a major show of muscle to let people know they're not going to get pushed around like some two bit small company.
  - danssig 16y ago
    I'm pragmatic as well. What I find frustrating about this blatant Google fanboy-ism is that it is hypocritical on its face: any normal company thing they do gets trumpeted as "don't do evil! Weeeeee!" and every evil thing is defended with pragmatism. They're just a big public tech company. They're no more good/evil than Apple, Microsoft or anyone else and it's really frustrating watching otherwise intelligent adults behaving as though they were somehow different.
bad_user 16y ago
The first step to enlightenment is recognizing instances where you might be wrong ;-) I think we are too little and insignificant to hypothesize about the effects of net-neutrality (or the lack of it), and what will happen with the Internet ecosystem going forward; but personally I think net-neutrality is bad news for consumers, which would be ironic given how it was pushed forward. If anything, I blame Google for sticking their nose into this business, but I don't blame them. About "closing Android" -- their behavior has been consistent. The very first version of Android has been released in binary-form only. Android was never more open than it currently is, and as far as openness goes, it's not a black&white issue. Bidding on Nortel's patents makes sense, and I'm actually glad they did it, as companies like Oracle, Microsoft and Apple have the power to kill Android by means of their fat patents portfolio. And personally I care much, much more about a healthy smartphones ecosystem that has plenty of competition, rather than about ideological issues that may or may not have value. No, they aren't a small company anymore. Small companies in the same situation either sell-out or die.
- danssig 16y ago
  If you're a fan boy then you're almost certainly neither enlightened nor correct.
danssig 16y ago
Disgusting that a post questioning Google gets voted down like this. Also you forgot where they made a big stink about China, claimed they were pulling out and.... didn't.

BarkMore 16y ago

What's hypocritical about building a defensive patent portfolio?

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

Kylekramer 16y ago

Google can be ideologically pure about patents being evil and subsequently get sued to oblivion, or they can acknowledged the current reality and fight it while staying safe themselves. I'd know one I would pick. For example, I disagree with marijuana laws, but I am not about to light up in front of a cop.

dexen 16y ago
And who's there to stop Google from abusing the patent pool in 4 years from now? Yes, they have been pretty considerate business up to now. But future is not merely a direct projection of past. A portfolio of patents is as much an obligation as an asset. You cannot arbitrarily enforce patents only against certain competitors, lest you risk the patent in question being shot down in arbitration or court case.
- nolok 16y ago
  And who's there to stop whoever buy these patents from abusing the patent pool in 4 years from now? In that situation, I would much rather have google own them on the risk that they might do something evil with it (but probably not if we believe their history), than any of the other companies who already proved they would.
- bad_user 16y ago
  A portfolio of patents becomes a liability sooner or later, no matter who owns it. The only one who can stop that is you -- by voting, lobbying or donating money to the EFF or similar organizations that are fighting against software patents. If enough people did this, we wouldn't have this conversation -- but the truth is, most people accepted the status-quo and/or have other priorities, so after a little bit of hand-waving, life goes back to normal and it's business as usual. And companies have the obligation to defend themselves -- they can't afford to just bitch-and-moan about this issue. And even companies acting in good-faith (if such a thing exists for companies) -- will choose the path of least resistance (i.e. building a patents portfolio). Otherwise, to make a (bad) analogy, it would be like going to war with "make love" signs. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

acconrad 16y ago

I had a funny feeling this would be downvoted.

ascendant 16y ago
It's the never ending battle between ideology vs pragmatism. In a perfect world, I'm sure they'd love to stick to their original creed of "Don't be evil", but pragmatism dictates that occasionally they have to bend their own rules from time to time to make sure food gets on the table for their thousands of employees. I'm not saying you're right or wrong, but I get the sense that most HNers fall into the "pragmatism" camp. In this particular case, my bat-sensor isn't really detecting anything malevolent afoot. They and their partners have been getting hammered on all sides by patent lawsuits and Google has more than enough cash to come out swinging, and this is a major show of muscle to let people know they're not going to get pushed around like some two bit small company.
- danssig 16y ago
  I'm pragmatic as well. What I find frustrating about this blatant Google fanboy-ism is that it is hypocritical on its face: any normal company thing they do gets trumpeted as "don't do evil! Weeeeee!" and every evil thing is defended with pragmatism. They're just a big public tech company. They're no more good/evil than Apple, Microsoft or anyone else and it's really frustrating watching otherwise intelligent adults behaving as though they were somehow different.

bad_user 16y ago

The first step to enlightenment is recognizing instances where you might be wrong ;-) I think we are too little and insignificant to hypothesize about the effects of net-neutrality (or the lack of it), and what will happen with the Internet ecosystem going forward; but personally I think net-neutrality is bad news for consumers, which would be ironic given how it was pushed forward. If anything, I blame Google for sticking their nose into this business, but I don't blame them. About "closing Android" -- their behavior has been consistent. The very first version of Android has been released in binary-form only. Android was never more open than it currently is, and as far as openness goes, it's not a black&white issue. Bidding on Nortel's patents makes sense, and I'm actually glad they did it, as companies like Oracle, Microsoft and Apple have the power to kill Android by means of their fat patents portfolio. And personally I care much, much more about a healthy smartphones ecosystem that has plenty of competition, rather than about ideological issues that may or may not have value. No, they aren't a small company anymore. Small companies in the same situation either sell-out or die.

danssig 16y ago
If you're a fan boy then you're almost certainly neither enlightened nor correct.

danssig 16y ago

Disgusting that a post questioning Google gets voted down like this. Also you forgot where they made a big stink about China, claimed they were pulling out and.... didn't.