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Microsoft's Linux patent bingo hits Google's Android

2010-04-29 09:52 by
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Talk about dissonance. On the day Microsoft crowed that it was letting its employees contribute code to an open-source project, Joomla, it fired another shot at Linux.

On Wednesday, Microsoft announced a patent agreement with phone maker HTC that provides "broad coverage" under Microsoft's patent portfolio for HTC devices running Google's Android.

Ironically, Microsoft stands to actually make a profit from Linux. HTC will pay Microsoft royalties for each phone it ships with Google's renegade operating system.

HTC is just the latest notch on Microsoft's belt. Amazon, Novell, Linspire, TurboLinux, and Xandros have all signed deals with Microsoft to protect themselves and their users against litigation over possible violations of Microsoft's patents by Linux. As with HTC, no patents were named.

Satellite navigation maker TomTom, which uses Linux in its devices, was taken to court by Microsoft in March 2009 over violations of eight patents in its implementation of the Linux kernel. The companies settled, with TomTom promising to remove the offending functionality within two years along with some other, undisclosed, financial terms.

Read more -here-

 

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