4 ms·
Well-crafted tweets by MS execs. Pass the popcorn!
by jdp23 15y ago
Well-crafted tweets by MS execs. Pass the popcorn!
- jarin 15y agohttp://cl.ly/0A3R3e0d0H1o3k1q3w3E http://cl.ly/0A3R3e0d0H1o3k1q3w3E
- trezor 15y agoPlease. This is hacker news, not fark nor reddit. Just don't.
- myko 15y agoNot really. Google needs these patents to protect themselves from suits by MS and Apple, how could they make a cross-licensing deal if they co-owned these patents with the very companies they are trying to protect themselves against?
- econgeeker 15y agoTwo points: 1) Apple has never sued google, to my knowledge, and there are no active lawsuits currently. I'm not aware of any suits from Microsoft either. 2) IF Apple were to sue google, it would be over Patents resulting from Apple developed technology, not patents Apple bought defensively. I'm unaware of any case of Apple suing a company for violating a patent that Apple bought. However, Apple does sue companies for violating patents on Apple's inventions. Apple is not a patent troll, they are simply protecting their inventions. If Google had chosen to enter the bidding, the terms of the agreement could easily have included a cross-licensing deal, as these are how these things are often done. In fact, entering the bidding with these companies would have been the cheapest and most effective way to neutralize any claim they might have had on Google over these patents. If Google had entered the group they would have gotten a license on them (why else would google contribute to the bid?) and the cost of that would have been less than bidding for the whole thing by itself, by definition. I think google wanted the whole thing for itself, in the case of Nortel, and lost, and is now crying foul because it didn't get its way in an auction it didn't take very seriously in the first place.
- fpgeek 15y agoWe know for a fact that Google didn't want "the whole thing for itself, in the case of Nortel". They teamed up with Intel on their final bid.
- weavejester 15y agoApple is not a patent troll, they are simply protecting their inventions. Apple's patents, like many software patents, tend to involve obvious techniques and algorithms that have been carefully obfuscated by patent lawyers. Using such patents offensively is not so much about protecting Apple's innovations; it's more about preventing competition. This is beneficial for Apple, but bad for consumers and the overall health of the market.
- ch0wn 15y agoWhy is this being downvoted? I assume that this is a question that many might have, if they're not familiar with the complete details. It's certainly discussion-worthy and thus shouldn't be downvoted.
- jdp23 15y agoBelated response: I didn't mean the MS execs are necessarily right; I just meant that their tweets are very well done -- getting the message across very pithily.