4 ms·
>“They are very likely to be infringed by code that is at the core of Android,” says IP expert Florian Mueller. Now that's what I call a credible, expert sourc
by mycroftiv 15y ago
>“They are very likely to be infringed by code that is at the core of Android,” says IP expert Florian Mueller.
Now that's what I call a credible, expert source with no history of distorting the issues. Always good to see the balance and perspective that the business media gives to intellectual property issues in software.
- diogenescynic 15y agoAgreed and similarly I've seen Nathan Myhrvold, of Intellectual Ventures, on quite a few Sunday morning talk shows with supposed hardball journalists and not a peep about his patent trolling is mentioned.
- tzs 15y agoWhy was he on Sunday morning talk shows? What were they talking about?
- koenigdavidmj 15y agoProbably his culinary exploits (which tend to involve laboratory equipment...centrifuges being one of his favourite toys).
- diogenescynic 15y agoFareed Zakaria had him on for some "Innovation" sermon. He's been included on a few discussions about climate change as well and he's usually labeled at ex-CTO of MSFT, without mention of Intellectual Ventures. I just find it dishonest.
- tzs 15y agoI look forward to your analysis of the patents in question to show that Mueller is wrong.
- aristidb 15y agoCould you or somebody please provide clarification of Florian Müller's history of distorting issues, to those who don't know anything about that person?
- mycroftiv 15y agoIt's been a long-running story. Florian is a stopped clock who proclaims that the sky is falling for free software about every patent and copyright issue. One of the best examples is a recent controversy over Android's use of its Bionic replacement for glibc. Here's a post that tries to sum up the issue and includes Linus' own opinion: http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Linus-on-Android-headers-claims-seem-totally-bogus-1212280.html http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Linus-on-Android-head... This is just one example of a long-running pattern with Florian's claims.
- Steko 15y agoThere's two schools of thought on Florian. One is more or less how he presents himself - professional blogger about IP issues, a campaigner against software patents and neutral ref who reports on IP disputes. Take a look at the first few pages of his blog, nothing really stands out as overlu biased -- Apple won here, Apple lost here, new patent troll on the scene, etc. The other view is that he's a paid shill for MS out to SCO Linux. Groklaw dug up something where he no commented when asked about his financing (or perhaps specifically about Microsoft) and some weak link between him and Darl McBride (he was apprently in the wedding party of McBride's brother's wedding party or something). Neither of those is especially damning but it's at least eyebrow raising esp when you combine it with the Android claims he made earlier this year. I'm not ready to subscribe to the second view but I definitely take any android-geddon analysis from him with a large grain of salt.
- tzs 15y agoThat's a pretty poor example. Linus says he hasn't looked at what Google is done and is just assuming they wouldn't want to do anything wrong. Mueller offered his opinion on whether what Google was doing has a copyright problem. He backed that opinion by citing to legal experts who argued that there might be infringement. Some other people offer a different opinion (without citing to legal experts to at least show plausibility). Maybe Mueller is wrong on occasion when he offers his opinion. However, when he's reporting on facts rather than opinion (i.e., in most of his writing), he's quite accurate and a very useful source of information.