Report: Microsoft says open source violates 235 patents

[sellwhm]

http://news.com.com/Report+Microsoft...l?tag=nefd.pop

This makes me very angry! Surely Microsoft hasn't violated any patents....

[Zombie]

thats stupid as hell! Linux and stuff is more known and kinda used more! they just want to be the computer rulers they want to control us with their trackers and crap! Microsoft is also just in it for the publicity

[Kwek]

I don't know what to say about this, but I think Microsoft is getting more and more ridiculous.

[AvailNetworks]

if someone was violating your property you have spent BILLIONS on I think you might be a bit sensitive about someone using and passing it out for free.

[themoose]

Luckily Microsoft aren't the law.

[ezhost-anish]

What about Microsoft using pirated softwares

Has it ever crossed your mind to use the editor to open a WAV file installed with Windows XP? Nobody will do that - that's what Microsoft probably thought. After all, countless WAV files are stored on a computer, and they are to be heard, not to be watched, right?

No, not exactly. Our colleagues over at Macwelt gave us the idea. We tried it and examined some WAV files that are stored on a drive with a newly installed Windows XP. And we made a stunning discovery. In fact, we didn't even have to search for very long, as coincidence lent us a helping hand. In the Windows system directory, we had our first find, in the directory

"Windows\Help\Tours\WindowsMediaPlayer\Audio\Wav".

Located there are exactly nine WAV files, with a size between 80 and 360 Kilobytes. They serve as background sound during the Windows Media Player Tour. When you open one of these files with the notepad, you at first only see scrambled letters. Of course, you think, it's a sound file, after all.

But things become interesting when you scroll down to the very bottom in notepad. Located there is a type of watermarking, which records the software that the Microsoft musician used to create the WAV files.

We found the following text there:
LISTB INFOICRD 2000-04-06 IENG Deepz0ne ISFT Sound Forge 4.5

At first, that sounds anything but spectacular. It seems as if the Microsoft musician or the freelance musician commissioned by Microsoft used the Sony-made software " Sound Forge " (formerly Sonic) in its 4.5 version. Sound Forge is a tool for professionals and enables users to create WAV, AIFF, MP3 and other music files priced at $400.

On its face, all that's not unusual: Microsoft uses professional software. Who would've thought? But wait a minute, who or what is "DeepzOne"?

Bingo!

DeepzOne is (or at least was) member of the Warez group Radium that had specialized on cracking music software. Along with a person using the alias "Sandor," he was also co-founder of this group, which was established in 1997( see in this interview ). In addition, it was DeepzOne who started circulating the cracked 4.5 version of Sound Forge a few years ago.

A few years back, the group "Radium" caused quite a stir. It cracked the original Fraunhofer MP3 codec in order improve the limited MP3 codec that comes along
with Microsoft. To listen to MP3s, the Windows codec was solid, but it offered only limited encoding functions. The Radium codec, by contrast, boasted an improved encoder (up to 320 Kbit/s). During this Warez release, then, the name DeepzOne" surfaced. But what is the name "DeepzOne" doing in nine WAV files in Windows XP? Nothing more than a coincidence? One has the suspicion that that the files were generated with the cracked version of Sound Forge 4.5. It's difficult to say whether Microsoft itself did that or one of the freelancers. Only the Redmond-based employees in charge of the Windows Media Player will know that for sure. It seems, though, as if someone wanted to get around filling out an investment order to buy a software worth $400.

The topic still raises a moral problem, though, as Microsoft is quick to report every oh-so-minor success in the fight against piracy. In the wake of that move, the company also joined the BSA (Business Software Alliance), which has devoted itself to the "fight against software piracy" and persecutes violaters around the globe. But maybe BSA knows which office door it should knock on

Microsoft has yet to issue a statement. It will be interesting to get the company's position on this issue.

Source

[stuffradio]

all I can say is lol

[Matt8]

This will certainly be an interesting one that pans out. Microsoft is finally taking their battle stance against all the software beating them

[Ben]

This makes me want to slap a ho.

[Galaxy-Hosts.com]

This makes me want to slap a ho.

How immature.
I would guess that most of the infringements would not hold up in court. They may have a few legitimant complaints, but it would be interesting to see what they actually are.

[DarkBlood]

I should walk all the way over to Microsoft right now and tell them in person that,

"Windows is based off of UNIX, and you CANNOT deny that. Guess what? Linux is ALSO based off of UNIX! So is the Macintosh OS! You'd have to give them the news too!"

[Ben]

How immature.
I would guess that most of the infringements would not hold up in court. They may have a few legitimant complaints, but it would be interesting to see what they actually are.

Yet you ignore Rsmiley?

[[ih]Demetris]

thats stupid as hell! Linux and stuff is more known and kinda used more! they just want to be the computer rulers they want to control us with their trackers and crap! Microsoft is also just in it for the publicity

I'd have to to disagree. Microsoft controls the majority of the pc world as it stands right now. And they are right their are some software thats out there that blatently violates their copyrights. Hey we may not think its fair or right but they do have the right to protect their investments..Its all about capitol my friends..

[DarkBlood]

I'd have to to disagree. Microsoft controls the majority of the pc world as it stands right now. And they are right their are some software thats out there that blatently violates their copyrights. Hey we may not think its fair or right but they do have the right to protect their investments..Its all about capitol my friends..

So what if they control the PC World? They sure as hell don't have control over the software world. I mean, IE7 doesn't even come close to beating Firefox, Opera or Netscape. Also, Vista sucks... real, real bad (it takes a gig of RAM to even load up the OS. The upgrade software will also choke if you have 512 MB RAM.)

Also, I bet more than half the people who use Windows OS, don't even use Windows Defender. Windows Firewall is also a piece of crap, as it still lets trojans in.

[themoose]

So what if they control the PC World? They sure as hell don't have control over the software world. I mean, IE7 doesn't even come close to beating Firefox, Opera or Netscape. Also, Vista sucks... real, real bad (it takes a gig of RAM to even load up the OS. The upgrade software will also choke if you have 512 MB RAM.)

Also, I bet more than half the people who use Windows OS, don't even use Windows Defender. Windows Firewall is also a piece of crap, as it still lets trojans in.

First of all, how good a product is doesn't have any correlation with how much control the company has, and secondly the hardware required for an OS doesn't decide how good the OS is - otherwise we'd all be using xubuntu.