Microsoft claims 235 patent breaches by open source software
<noinclude>
{{date|May 15, 2007}}
[[Image:OOoWrite22.png|right|thumb|Screenshot of an OpenOffice.org program running on the Ubuntu Linux operating system.]]

Software giant [[Microsoft]]'s chief lawyer Brad Smith claimed in an interview published in the magazine [[w:Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]] on Monday that [[FLOSS|open-source software]] products violate 235 of Microsoft's patents. The main transgressors are claimed to be [[w:Linux|Linux]] (107 patents) and [[w:OpenOffice.org|OpenOffice.org]] (45), with e-mail programs infringing 15 patents. Microsoft wants royalties to compensate for the patent breaches.

According to Microsoft's Vice-President of intellectual property and licensing, Horacio Gutierrez, the company wants to negotiate with the open-source companies rather than sue them. "If we wanted to litigate we would have done that a long time ago. Litigation is not an effective way of going about solutions," Gutierrez said. According to him, Microsoft has over the last years tried to work towards a "constructive" solution to the alleged problem of patent violation.

Microsoft in the past has used the strategy of cross-licensing to get royalties from companies who infringe their patents, for example in their deal with [[w:Novell|Novell]]. On a company blog, Novell reiterated that their deal "is in no way an acknowledgment that Linux infringes upon any Microsoft intellectual property."

"We don't think that customers will want to continue on without a solution to the problem," Gutierrez said about Microsoft's approach to guaranteeing companies that they won't get sued because they use the allegedly patent-infringing Linux operating system.

The upcoming third version of the [[w:GNU General Public License|GPL licence]], the licence under which Linux is released, will prohibit Linux distributors to agree to patent royalty deals. Microsoft called these "attempts to tear down the bridge between proprietary and open-source software that Microsoft has worked to build with the industry and customers."

A related [[U.S.]] [[w:Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] ruling from April 30th showed how software patents can be subject to court challenges; basically, if the innovations patented are "obvious", the patent is weakened. Joe Lindsay, information officer for a mortgage company, pointed out that the [[w:Unix|Unix]] code that Linux is based upon preceded [[w:Microsoft Windows|Microsoft Windows]], which might also be a reason for some patents to be invalid.

[[w:Red Hat|Red Hat]], the biggest Linux distributor, said in a statement on Monday:
{{CQuote|The reality is that the community development approach of free and open source code represents a healthy development paradigm, which, when viewed from the perspective of pending lawsuits related to intellectual property, is at least as safe as proprietary software.|Red Hat IP Team}}

[[w:Larry Augustin|Larry Augustin]], former CEO of a company called VA Linux (now [[w:VA Software|VA Software]]), responsible among other things for launching [[w:SourceForge.net|SourceForge.net]], an open-source software development community, posted a message on his blog under the title "It's Time for Microsoft to Put Up or Shut Up":
{{CQuote|If Microsoft believes that Free and Open Source Software violates any of their patents, let them put those patents forward now, in the light of day, where we can all evaluate them on their merits.  If not, then stop trying to bully customers into paying royalties to use Open Source.}}

According to the ''Fortune'' report, more than half of the [[w:Fortune 500|Fortune 500]] companies are estimated to use Linux in their data centers.

==Related news==
{{wikipediapar|Software patents and free software}}
*{{wikinews|title=Microsoft faults Google on its copyright protection practices|date=March 6, 2007}}
*{{wikinews|title=Microsoft disgruntled with partner Dell's interest in open source|date=January 27, 2007}}
*{{wikinews|title=Free Software Foundation releases first draft of GPLv3|date=January 16, 2006}}

==Sources==
*{{source|url=http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-micro15may15,1,7583796.story?coll=la-headlines-technology
|title=Microsoft seeks royalties from open-source software
|author=Bloomberg News
|pub=Los Angeles Times
|date=May 15, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6183662.html
|title=Microsoft agitates for open-source patent pacts
|author=Stephen Shankland, Ina Fried
|pub=ZDNet
|date=May 14, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyId=89&articleId=9019420&intsrc=hm_topic
|title=Microsoft's patent hard line hardest on startups
|author=International Data Group
|pub=Computer World
|date=May 14, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/05/28/100033867/index.htm
|title=Microsoft takes on the free world
|author=Roger Parloff
|pub=Fortune
|date=May 14, 2007}}
*{{source-pr|url=http://www.press.redhat.com/2007/05/14/deploy-with-confidence/
|title=Deploy With Confidence
|pub=Red Hat
|date=May 14, 2007}}
*{{blogsource|author=Larry Augustin
|title=It's Time for Microsoft to Put Up or Shut Up
|url=http://lmaugustin.typepad.com/lma/2007/05/its_time_for_mi.html
|name=Larry Augustin's Weblog
|date=May 14, 2007}}
*{{blogsource|author=Bruce Lowry
|title=Fortune Magazine article
|url=http://www.novell.com/prblogs/?p=336
|name=Novell Open PR
|date=May 14, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6183437.html
|title=Report: Microsoft says open source violates 235 patents
|author=Stephen Shankland, Ina Fried
|pub=ZDNet
|date=May 13, 2007}}

{{publish}}

{{Archived}}

</noinclude>

[[Category:FLOSS]]
[[Category:Computing]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Economy and business]]
[[Category:Microsoft]]
[[Category:United States]]
[[Category:North America]]
[[Category:Crime and law]]
[[Category:Linux]]
[[Category:Software]]

[[it:Ballmer dichiara che il free software infrange 235 brevetti Microsoft]]
[[pt:Linux violam patentes da Microsoft segundo advogado]]
Screenshot of an OpenOffice.org program running on the Ubuntu Linux operating system.

Software giant Microsoft's chief lawyer Brad Smith claimed in an interview published in the magazine Fortune on Monday that open-source software products violate 235 of Microsoft's patents. The main transgressors are claimed to be Linux (107 patents) and OpenOffice.org (45), with e-mail programs infringing 15 patents. Microsoft wants royalties to compensate for the patent breaches.

According to Microsoft's Vice-President of intellectual property and licensing, Horacio Gutierrez, the company wants to negotiate with the open-source companies rather than sue them. "If we wanted to litigate we would have done that a long time ago. Litigation is not an effective way of going about solutions," Gutierrez said. According to him, Microsoft has over the last years tried to work towards a "constructive" solution to the alleged problem of patent violation.

Microsoft in the past has used the strategy of cross-licensing to get royalties from companies who infringe their patents, for example in their deal with Novell. On a company blog, Novell reiterated that their deal "is in no way an acknowledgment that Linux infringes upon any Microsoft intellectual property."

"We don't think that customers will want to continue on without a solution to the problem," Gutierrez said about Microsoft's approach to guaranteeing companies that they won't get sued because they use the allegedly patent-infringing Linux operating system.

The upcoming third version of the GPL licence, the licence under which Linux is released, will prohibit Linux distributors to agree to patent royalty deals. Microsoft called these "attempts to tear down the bridge between proprietary and open-source software that Microsoft has worked to build with the industry and customers."

A related U.S. Supreme Court ruling from April 30th showed how software patents can be subject to court challenges; basically, if the innovations patented are "obvious", the patent is weakened. Joe Lindsay, information officer for a mortgage company, pointed out that the Unix code that Linux is based upon preceded Microsoft Windows, which might also be a reason for some patents to be invalid.

Red Hat, the biggest Linux distributor, said in a statement on Monday:


Larry Augustin, former CEO of a company called VA Linux (now VA Software), responsible among other things for launching SourceForge.net, an open-source software development community, posted a message on his blog under the title "It's Time for Microsoft to Put Up or Shut Up":


According to the Fortune report, more than half of the Fortune 500 companies are estimated to use Linux in their data centers.


it:Ballmer dichiara che il free software infrange 235 brevetti Microsoft
Linux violam patentes da Microsoft segundo advogado
FLOSS Computing Internet Economy and business Microsoft United States North America Crime and law Linux Software