The death of Google’s patents. And maybe software patents too?
I'm actually very surprised this hasn't been picked up on any of the major tech sites. Here's the first sentence from the article:
"The Patent and Trademark Office has now made clear that its newly developed position on patentable subject matter will invalidate many and perhaps most software patents, including pioneering patent claims to such innovators as Google, Inc."
Wow! This would seem to be a complete reversal of the PTO's position (patenting world+dog is ok). If true, it could certainly be beneficial for Free and Open Source software, but more importantly, it could restore some much needed creativity and competition to the tech world that now goes to filing, defending, and getting sued over patents.
Full article is here.
The Home Network of 2012
" The home network of 2012 is delivered and controlled by the service providers, says Motorola’s Jed Johnson." Sound funny to you too? Apparently, quite a bit of this is already in the works, according to this article. It's a vision of what home networks will be like according to three industry prognosticators. Considering that most people with less than 1 Mbit DSL are content to browse web sites and check email, I find it hard to believe that we'll have IP-enabled thermostats in 2012. Also, the DRM scheme in the article would never work because people are finally realizing that DRM is a nuisance, not a feature. Favorite quote: "While much of the population is enjoying services piped over 100 Mbps-plus broadband connections, slower 512K-1 Mbps broadband is available to everyone under nationwide subsidized programs." They obviously aren't talking about broadband in the U.S.
The Shadow Internet
Interesting article over at Wired about the shadow Internet, or the so-called "pirate Internet". Check it out.
Finally: The mainstream press gets it
It appears that mainstream news sites may finally be waking up to the lies and hipocrisy that is SCO's legal circus. Witness this Computer World article.
It's an interesting read and has some rather funny lines in it. Some prime examples are:
The most ridiculous software company in the world can't stop suing over it.
Or how about this one, in reference to the lawsuits:
Even the lurking shadow of SCO's $3 billion lawsuit against IBM over intellectual property rights to Linux -- and the pipsqueak vendor's threats to directly sue user companies -- has done nothing to dampen IT or business enthusiasm. No fear. No uncertainty. No doubt.
Either way, it's a good read. I'm glad to see that the press is starting to see the SCO farce for what it really is: a "get-rich quick" scheme. I dunno about everybody else out there, but I'm getting sick of SCO's whining about how "they should've been where Red Hat is". It's called capitalism (a.k.a. Survival of the Fittest), get over it.
Apple’s Steve Jobs about to relegate the Compact Disc to museum piece
"When Steve Jobs, the founder and head of Apple Computer, takes the stage at the start of the annual Macworld Conference in San Francisco on Tuesday wearing his trademark uniform of black jeans and sweater, look for a tell-tale white wire reaching from his ears to his waist. While his task under the lights will be to evangelise rather than to listen to music, chances are he will be sporting an iPod," The Independent reports. Saw that here.
Linux in 2003: SCO’s Smoke Screen Doesn’t Hide a Fired-Up Linux
"It would be a travesty if 2003 goes down in IT history as the year SCO cried foul..." Via Linux Today.
Favorite quote:
"This year, SCO's legal counterattack and Bill Gates' admission that Linux is Microsoft's No. 1 competitor demonstrate they're feeling the heat..."
Not shocking, seeing as Windows development is starting to mirror Linux development methods.
SCO infringed copyright, IBM alleges in new claim
The company yesterday amended a countersuit it filed against The SCO Group in August, adding the charge of copyright infringement. Via Computerworld News.
Microsoft: Asia Not Playing Fair Over OS
Straight from the "whiny beotch" department. Microsoft is complaining about the recent plan by Japan, China and South Korea to create a trusted open source OS for use by the state. From the article: "Governments should not be in the position to decide who the winners are". I guess convicted monopolists should be, eh? Read all about it on CNET News.
EarthLink sues spam, identity-theft rings
By filing suit against the as-yet-unnamed spammers, EarthLink hopes to use subpoenas of ISPs, mailbox rental companies and domain registrars to track down their identities. Via Computerworld News.
It's good to see at least one large ISP taking a stand on spam.
Mozilla Web browser 1.5 beta released
The Mozilla Organization has posted Mozilla 1.5b, the latest beta release of the popular open-source Web browser. For those of you still using IE, you really don't know what you're missing. Tabbed browsing, built in pop-up blocking, and no annoying ActiveX ads (Gator, anyone?) are just a few things. If you happen to be using Mac OS X, the Safari browser might be more to your liking. Ah, choice is good.