• Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google
    57 replies, posted
[QUOTE]Canada-based telecom Nortel went bankrupt in 2009 and sold its biggest asset—a portfolio of more than 6,000 patents covering 4G wireless innovations and a range of technologies—at an auction in 2011. Google bid for the patents, but didn't get them. Instead, they went to a group of competitors—Microsoft, Apple, RIM, Ericsson, and Sony—operating under the name "Rockstar Bidco." The companies together bid the shocking sum of $4.5 billion. Patent insiders knew that the Nortel portfolio was the patent equivalent of a nuclear stockpile: dangerous in the wrong hands, and a bit scary even if held by a "responsible" party. This afternoon, that stockpile was finally used for what pretty much everyone suspected it would be used for—launching an all-out patent attack on Google and Android. The smartphone patent wars have been underway for a few years now, and the eight lawsuits filed in federal court today by Rockstar Consortium mean that the conflict just hit DEFCON 1. Google probably knew this was coming. When it lost out in the Nortel auction, the company's top lawyer, David Drummond, complained that the Microsoft-Apple patent alliance was part of a "hostile, organized campaign against Android." Google's failure to get patents in the Nortel auction was seen as one of the driving factors in its $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola in 2011. Rockstar, meanwhile, was pretty unapologetic about embracing the "patent troll" business model. Most trolls, of course, aren't holding thousands of patents from a seminal technology company. When the company was profiled by Wired last year, about 25 of its 32 employees were former Nortel employees. The suits filed today are against Google and seven companies that make Android smartphones: Asustek, HTC, Huawei, LG Electronics, Pantech, Samsung, and ZTE. The case was filed in the Eastern District of Texas, long considered a district friendly to patent plaintiffs. [/QUOTE] [url]http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/10/patent-war-goes-nuclear-microsoft-apple-owned-rockstar-sues-google/[/url]
Fuck patent whores.
Patent shit-slinging: for when you can't handle competition.
corporate kindergarden: business without ethics 101
The patent system is a fucking pile of horse shit, and crap like this just demonstrates why again and again. For a system designed to supposedly encourage competition and growth, sure seems like it's being used to do the opposite.
[QUOTE=Craigewan;42721301]The patent system is a fucking pile of horse shit, and crap like this just demonstrates why again and again. For a system designed to supposedly encourage competition and growth, sure seems like it's being used to do the opposite.[/QUOTE] Something has gone wrong when a system meant to protect creators is abused by people who simply had the money to buy a patent at auction for the sole purpose of removing competition.
[QUOTE=Hoffa1337;42721250]corporate kindergarden: business without ethics 101[/QUOTE] Dude corporate kindergarten would make a great movie.
But I thought people wanted Microsoft and apple to get along
[QUOTE=markfu;42721335]Dude corporate kindergarten would make a great movie.[/QUOTE] BRB patenting.
[QUOTE=dogmachines;42721307]Something has gone wrong when a system meant to protect creators is abused by people who simply had the money to buy a patent at auction for the sole purpose of removing competition.[/QUOTE] isnt that the capitalist ideal?
[QUOTE=thisispain;42721392]isnt that the capitalist ideal?[/QUOTE] As far as I understand the ideal is a market regulating itself with competition to keep the prices low. The companies want to maximise profit but if they charged too much their profits should drop because their competitors would get more of their custom. Its a really unrealistic and shitty system which tries to deny human nature and requires strict regulation. I think what this "rockstar" is doing is abhorrent. I dislike google but I'm kind of rooting for them this time. edit: or is that the definition of freemarket?
[QUOTE=dogmachines;42721140]Patent shit-slinging: for when you[B]'re Apple[/B][/QUOTE] Fixed that for you [editline]1st November 2013[/editline] [quote]The case was filed in the Eastern District of Texas, long considered a district friendly to patent plaintiffs.[/quote] How a "district" of a state is more accepting of this is disgusting, why is this allowed to happen? So backwards
[QUOTE=mdeceiver79;42721425]As far as I understand the ideal is a market regulating itself with competition to keep the prices low. [/QUOTE] but surely the ideal for corporations is to eliminate the competition. the sole reason a corporation even exists as a concept is to remove competition.
If someone makes something better and more popular than you? sue them with patents......story of the technology business as of late, i hope this shit just gets thrown out of court to teach microsoft and apple a fucking lesson.
So talking about patents... Take-Two Interactive, wanna have a field day?
if i ever get the chance i would buy apple and remove it from existance
I hope the patent suits are destroyed. I like how all these companies are going against a competitor they can't beat because they're so bad, so they resort to patent trolling
[QUOTE=ashrobhoy;42721631]if i ever get the chance i would buy apple and remove it from existance[/QUOTE] brave
If you're actually mad at this and you use Windows, Mac or an iPhone, for instance, then your opinion is irrelevant. These types of of things have been going on since 2007 and it's a lot of wasted money from both sides, but it's how the broken patent system currently works. There are new bills for proposed patent reforms, and if you're from America and you're interested in changing something, tell your representatives how much you support those bills: [URL]https://www.eff.org/issues/current-legislative-proposals-patent-reform[/URL]. And if you wanna be more informed on a related subject, here's a neat lecture: [video=youtube;mhBpI13dxkI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhBpI13dxkI[/video]
How do Sony fit in that group? They manufacture Android devices...
I wish that I could say that cheats never prosper... But, thanks to [I]'asshat capitalism'[/I], they do.
[QUOTE=thisispain;42721457]but surely the ideal for corporations is to eliminate the competition. the sole reason a corporation even exists as a concept is to remove competition.[/QUOTE]Yet a free market is absolutely reliant on competition to stay fair. Essentially the idea is that some guy making widgets out of his garage can go toe to toe with a corporation that makes them by the millions. Meanwhile the big corporation has to either make better widgets, (this includes marketing their widgets) lower the price, or be replaced, there's nothing else besides those options. I think this is a side-effect of taking bits and pieces of different theories and applying them without careful study of the consequences. We've got an economic system that's supposed to be based around fairness, worker's rights, and other noble ideas, but in practice it's not very fair at all, workers are routinely taken advantage of by both the employer and their representatives, and it's also producing an alarming gap between the rich and poor. Another example would be the US correctional system, it's designed to favor punishment over rehabilitation, but has absolutely none of the tools normally used to punish which diminishes it's role as a deterrent. (beating the snot out of prisoners, restricting luxuries, etc) Meanwhile, it's role as a rehabilitative institution is also diminished, (because you're not there to be coddled, you're there for punishment you dirty criminal!) leaving us with a prison system that doesn't do what it's supposed to do. In fact, it's actually making [i]worse[/i] criminals when they leave the system. That's actually a loaded term, being branded a felon means you never actually stop paying for your crime in American society. (job restrictions, social stigma, etc) Since societies are rarely planned, these hiccups are bound to happen as a society changes and grows. I'm not sure what the solution will be, but it probably won't come around immediately and I think this behavior will continue for some time.
How fucking unbelievably childish.
As much as you guys complain about how harmful patents are, can you imagine what things would be like if america had the same lack of regulation on intellectual property and quality control that china is experiencing right now [QUOTE=adnzzzzZ;42721886]If you're actually mad at this and you use Windows, Mac or an iPhone, for instance, then your opinion is irrelevant.[/QUOTE] oh sorry I guess I'm exempt from having an opinion on whether or not this is shitty practice because I'm touching a computer right now, carry on rockstar we're cool now
If only Tesler patented wirless technology, then we would be laughing.
[QUOTE=daijitsu;42722454]As much as you guys complain about how harmful patents are, can you imagine what things would be like if america had the same lack of regulation on intellectual property and quality control that china is experiencing right now oh sorry I guess I'm exempt from having an opinion on whether or not this is shitty practice because I'm touching a computer right now, carry on rockstar we're cool now[/QUOTE] Stifling innovation or knockoffs... hmmm.
Patents aren't harmful, [I]software[/I] patents are. THey make zero sense. [editline]1st November 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=adnzzzzZ;42721886]If you're actually mad at this and you use Windows, Mac or an iPhone, for instance, then your opinion is irrelevant. These types of of things have been going on since 2007 and it's a lot of wasted money from both sides, but it's how the broken patent system currently works. [/QUOTE] "If you're part of the 3/4th majority of people who use technology, your opinion is irrelevant because I said so" Also, I guess yours is too, fellow windows user.
[QUOTE=daijitsu;42722454]As much as you guys complain about how harmful patents are, can you imagine what things would be like if america had the same lack of regulation on intellectual property and quality control that china is experiencing right now[/QUOTE] New Zealand has no patents on software and they're doing fine. Europe has much more relaxed laws on software patents too and they're doing fine. So yes, I can imagine. [QUOTE=daijitsu;42722454] oh sorry I guess I'm exempt from having an opinion on whether or not this is shitty practice because I'm touching a computer right now, carry on rockstar we're cool now[/QUOTE] You can have an opinion, but if your opinion is that it's a shitty practice and that you don't support it, yet you use the products those companies put out (therefore you are actually supporting them) then you are contradicting yourself. I don't tend to take the opinion of people who contradict themselves on a subject, about that subject, seriously. Do you? [editline]1st November 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=S31-Syntax;42722539] "If you're part of the 3/4th majority of people who use technology, your opinion is irrelevant because I said so" Also, I guess yours is too, fellow windows user.[/QUOTE] Reading comprehension please. "If you're actually mad at this". Am I mad that this is happening? No, my post stated that this is happening since 2007, that I was aware this was happening since 2007 and that it's how things work.
[QUOTE=adnzzzzZ;42722558] Reading comprehension please. "If you're actually mad at this". Am I mad that this is happening? No, my post stated that this is happening since 2007, that I was aware this was happening since 2007 and that it's how things work.[/QUOTE] So, our opinion is only relevant if we're happy with microsoft, apple, sony, and friends patent trolling?
No, your opinion is valid either way (for you and other people), I'll just take it way less seriously (to the point that it is invalid to me). [URL="http://chem.tufts.edu/answersinscience/relativityofwrong.htm"]http://chem.tufts.edu/answersinscience/relativityofwrong.htm [/URL]All of this is super off-topic though, instead of focusing on one sentence of my first post, focus on the other two that actually have more to do with the issue at hand.
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