Re: Microsoft going after Linux?

[Rjack]

Doctor Smith wrote:
> On Fri, 27 Feb 2009 02:00:07 +0000, Andrew Halliwell wrote:
>
> > Doctor Smith <iaintgotnostinkinemail@ols.net> wrote:
> > > They will be utterly crushed into the ground.
> > Who? Tomtom?
>
> FSF

Micro$oft has $19 billion in cash on hand. It costs more than $1
million to prosecute or defend a patent claim. If someone like the
Linux Foundation tries to sue Microsoft for really serious damages
why wouldn't Micro$oft simply sue Linus Torvalds? You're looking at
over $250 million in attorney fees just to defend against
Microsoft's potential claims whether they are frivolous or not. I
suspect Linux kernel developers would agree to vanish overnight in
order to avoid potential infringement suits.

No one can rely on life being fair. A monopolist like Microsoft
with $19 billion in cash on hand will end up calling the shots in a
patent war. The long historical road involving the development of
computer software is littered with the dead bodies of Microsoft's
enemies who forecast Redmond's imminent demise. Marshall Phelps,
Microsoft's IP strategy manager formulated IBM's patent strategy
back in the 1980's. Cavalierly dismissing Micro$oft patent threats
would be foolhardy at best.


Sincerely,
Rjack :)