Open Source Industry Australia: Microsoft Admits Patent Weakness

Open Source Industry Australia Limited (OSIA) welcomes this week's admission by Microsoft in magazine articles, including Fortune magazine, that the patents it has identified against open source are liable to be struck out as invalid.

"We've tried to work it out, but their reasoning is lost on us," said OSIA director Brendan Scott. "They're worried the patents will be invalid, so they're not disclosing them. In the next breath they say its fair for everyone else to pay them for the same patents. You'd have to be a bit of a dope wouldn't you?"

This was a carefully thought out release of information by very senior people within Microsoft. They chose not to disclose which
patents they allege are being infringed, even stating their reason was that the patents would be challenged. If they were sure of
their position they'd put their cards on the table. "This is not an argument from strength by Microsoft, it is an argument from weakness," said OSIA Director Arjen Lentz.

OSIA is more concerned by the agenda behind these statements by Microsoft. Despite increasing pressure from the entire community, Microsoft has repeatedly dragged its feet on interoperability. Microsoft well knows that no one is going to pay for invalid patents. By making an offer knowing it will be rejected, Microsoft is setting itself up to blame everyone else for its own
failings - "We offered to interoperate, but they didn't want our patents." It won't wash. Microsoft needs to get serious and demonstrate a real commitment to interoperability.

Microsoft is increasingly demonstrating the behaviour of a company that has lost its drive. It's Vista operating system was years
late, feature incomplete and imitative of earlier open source technology. By releasing Vista it has implicitly acknowledged
open source's technology leadership. It has a poor record on interoperability. It is failing in its attempts to force the world to adopt the Microsoft-only document "standard" OOXML, and has become increasingly petulant, blaming others when it doesn't
get its own way.

These allegations are not so much a declaration of war by Microsoft as a cry for help. They demonstrate that Open Source is winning the innovation race, that it is winning the contest for hearts and minds. Open source is the future. It is time to turn
away from the past.

source osia.net.au