microsoft-novell

DOJ clears Apple-Microsoft-RIM deal to buy Nortel patents

The purchase of a number of Nortel Networks patents by a partnership that includes Apple, Microsoft, and Research In Motion has passed antitrust scrutiny, the U.S. Department of Justice said today.

The DOJ's antitrust division came to the same conclusion on Apple's planned acquisition of certain Novell patents, and of Google's purchase of Motorola Mobility Holdings, according to this statement:

After a thorough review of the proposed transactions, the Antitrust Division has determined that each acquisition is unlikely to substantially lessen competition and has closed these three investigations. In all of the transactions, the division conducted … Read more

Mistrial declared in Microsoft-Novell suit, over hung jury

A federal judge declared a mistrial in Novell's antitrust suit against Microsoft after jurors told the court they could not reach a verdict.

Novell filed the case in 2004, alleging that Microsoft, while developing Windows 95, promised to support Novell's WordPerfect and Quattro Pro products, but held back key technical information required to make them compatible with Windows 95. Novell sought more than $1 billion in damages as a result of Microsoft's alleged anticompetitive behavior.

The jury trial, which lasted two months, saw Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates travel to the Salt Lake City courtroom to testify. According … Read more

Bill Gates to testify today in Novell suit against Microsoft

Bill Gates is scheduled to take the stand today in a Novell-versus-Microsoft antitrust case whose origins stretch back as far as 1995.

Launched in 2004 by Novell, the lawsuit alleges that Microsoft used anti-competitive tactics to hurt Novell's WordPerfect and Quattro Pro products by holding back key technical information required to make them compatible with Windows 95. Novell claims that Microsoft initially promised its support for the two applications but then pulled back to combat any potential competition against Microsoft Office.

In its suit filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, Novell is seeking $1.2 … Read more

Microsoft and Google go tit-for-tat in patent spat

Rather than ignore an attack by Google's legal boss saying that it has conspired against the company in patent wars, Microsoft is ratcheting up the nastiness.

And Google is firing back, turning the discussion of patent strategy into a he said-she said battle of blog posts and tweets.

The software giant's top public relations executive took to Twitter last night to refute claims laid out by Google Chief Legal Officer David Drummond that Microsoft is conspiring with Apple and others to keep patents away from the Web giant. Frank X. Shaw released an October e-mail from Google General Counsel Kent Walker to his counterpart at Microsoft, Brad Smith, cordially declining Microsoft's offer to jointly bid on patents from Novell.

In the e-mail, Walker writes, "After talking with people here, it sounds as though for various reasons a joint bid wouldn't be advisable for us on this one. But I appreciate your flagging it, and we're open to discussing other similar opportunities in the future."… Read more

DOJ forces changes in Novell patent deal

A partnership that includes Microsoft and Apple agreed to modify the terms of its acquisition of some Novell patents in order to satisfy antitrust regulators worried about the impact on open-source software.

The Department of Justice announced today that CPTN Holdings altered the original agreement, requiring that it license rather than buy some of the 882 patents and patent applications. And all of the patents that are purchased will be bought under the GNU General Public License and the Open Invention Network License, according to the agency, which worked closely with Germany's Federal Cartel Office.

Microsoft established CPTN, which … Read more

Software groups urge probe of Novell patent sale

The Open Software Initiative and the Free Software Foundation yesterday released a joint statement, urging the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as the German Federal Cartel Office, to investigate the sale of Novell's more than 800 patents as part of its multibillion dollar sale to Attachmate in November.

In December, the OSI sent a position paper to the German Federal Cartel Office. That paper has been updated to name both software groups as the concerned parties and filed with the U.S. Department of Justice.

"Since making that filing, we have been joined by the Free … Read more

Apple, EMC, Oracle tied to Novell patent buy

One big detail that has been unclear since Attachmate's acquisition of Novell last month has been the destiny of the 882 patents that are set to be handed over to CPTN Holdings LLC--a consortium of technology companies that was organized by Microsoft.

Would Microsoft be getting all those patents, or would it have to share them with the other companies? More importantly--who are the other "technology companies" that make up the group?

While the first question remains unanswered, the second part of the equation is coming into view this morning, with blog FOSS Patents unearthing a merger filing … Read more

Report: VMware eyeing Novell's Suse

VMware is reportedly looking to acquire Novell's Suse Linux OS unit in a move that would give it a full stack of enterprise software.

According to The Wall Street Journal, VMware is in talks to buy Novell's Suse unit as the company is split in two. Netware and Novell's other assets would be sold to private equity firm Attachmate.

The real fireworks, however, would be over VMware acquiring Suse. Last quarter, Novell executives made it quite clear that the company was getting cozy with VMware much to the chagrin of partner Microsoft.

Which open-source vendors can afford the cloud?

Cost and quality are two driving factors for open source's role as the bedrock for public cloud computing. Google, Amazon, and other public cloud providers simply can't compete with expensive, proprietary license-burdened infrastructure. They need open source.

As cloud computing matures and moves from public to private clouds, however, we may see enterprises flock to free (as in cost) and open (as in freedom) infrastructure, too.

What would this mean for subscription-based open-source vendors?

It might not be pretty. Tim O'Reilly pointed out nearly two years ago that

almost all of the software stacks running on cloud … Read more

Mono promise is nice, Microsoft. What about Linux?

Microsoft has divided opinion in the open-source world for years with its love/mostly hate relationship with open source. While the company has seemingly warmed up to open source in the past two years, its continued patent club has hung over projects like Linux. On Monday Microsoft sheathed the club for the open-source Mono project, but arguably needs to go much further to justify celebrations.

Despite Microsoft's patent claims against open source over the years, it has chosen a few favorites to exclude from the taint of infringement, Mono chief among them. Mono enables .Net applications to run on … Read more