Microsoft Balances Patents, Standards
David Becker,
CNet News.com,
Feb 03, 2004
This is the sort of issue faced every day by companies and organizations working with things like XML - should their work be patented and protected, or not. The article makes much of Microsoft's flirtation with anti-trust laws, auggesting that the use of patents to lock out competitors would be viewed unfavorably by the judiciary. But I doubt that this bothers the company. A more significant line is between protection and adoption: standards are useful only if people use them, and if standards are proprietary then people are less likely to use them. From my side of the fence (ie., not being part of Microsoft) the same question is posed differently: does it make sense to develop for such and such a standard, or will Microsoft ruin it for everyone? This is complicated by the shell game that surrounds the adoption of standards by international bodies, the promotion of a standard as 'open' when in fact applications of the standard require royalties, and more. And, of course, it's not only Microsoft playing this game: just as SCO is trying to pull out the rug from under Linux users and Sun walks the same fine line with its ownership of Java, no doubt many more surprises lie ahead.
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