[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] W3C suckered by Microsoft?
I'm sure most people on the list are aware of the ongoing reexamination of the Eolas patent and its preliminary rejection based on prior art (see http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1543843,00.asp, for instance). As it looks increasingly likely that this patent will end up overturned and Microsoft will save the $521M they currently owe Eolas I'm wondering if the W3C and the whole industry has really been played for suckers by the former company. Would Microsoft really have gone ahead with the supposed plan to change their browser if the patent were upheld? Based on the past history of the company I'd suspect they'd be more likely to negotiate with Eolas to get the price for continued use of the technology down to a reasonable level. Otherwise, they'd be in danger of throwing away their hard-(and illegally)-earned browser monopoly, since users might be tempted to switch to one of the open source alternatives that could presumably continue using embedding. Even aside from the seriousness of the Microsoft threat to change technologies and break many web pages, the widespread industry support for Microsoft in this action has had the unfortunate side effect of helping to preserve the status quo in the U.S. Patent Office. Supporters of the bureaucracy will be able to point to Eolas as an example of how the existing system really *does* work - "Sure, a bad patent may slip through every now and then, but when it does it'll be corrected by the system." Meanwhile, Microsoft itself (along with many, many, other companies) is busily engaged in staking out patent territory with specious claims such as the "XML with scripts" patent 6,687,897 discussed here last month, the "XML for word processing" patents, the ".NET XML interface" patents, etc. Could these be overturned with enough money and effort? Very likely - but in the meantime, Microsoft looks likely to be using their portfolio of lame patents to threaten and harass the open source development that's the main threat to their continued monopoly profits. They've already made what look to be the first moves in this direction with their "patent licensing program", and once SCO folds it'll be the only defense left to them. Unfortunately, open source is especially vulnerable to this type of attack, since the developers involved are generally working as individuals without any legal resources to defend them against intimidation. Personally, I don't think there's much doubt that Eolas is a band of scavengers who are working the patent system rather than innovating. If their case against Microsoft is upheld, though, it's likely to increase the pressure for change on the current system in a way that public complaints will never accomplish. Right now the patent system is operating to the benefit of the large players, who have the resources to both submit endless junk patents and argue examiners into the ground in order to get them approved, while knowing that they don't need to worry about other large companies doing the same because the competing portfolios provide a Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) "deterrent" effect (at least in theory). Seeing a $521M payment from Microsoft will convince these large companies that change is needed. - Dennis
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