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Amazon, Microsoft sign patent deal

By Ina Fried , CNET News.com on February 23, 2010 

 

Summary

Under the terms of the deal, which covers both the Kindle and Amazon's use of Linux-based servers, online retailer will pay Microsoft an undisclosed sum.

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Microsoft and Amazon announced on Monday that the two have entered into a patent cross-licensing deal.

As part of the pact, Amazon will pay Microsoft an undisclosed amount of money, though the two sides did not disclose more details.

The deal covers both Amazon's Kindle product as well as the company's use of Linux-based servers. Microsoft has maintained that many implementations of Linux infringe on its patents and has signed numerous licensing deals that cover Linux with both companies that sell Linux-based software and those that use the operating system in their hardware.

Microsoft, which started an intellectual property licensing push in late 2003, has deals with scores of companies ranging from Novell to Samsung and Fuji Xerox.

"We are pleased to have entered into this patent license agreement with Amazon.com," Microsoft deputy general counsel Horacio Gutierrez said in a statement. "Microsoft's patent portfolio is the largest and strongest in the software industry, and this agreement demonstrates our mutual respect for intellectual property as well as our ability to reach pragmatic solutions to IP issues regardless of whether proprietary or open source software is involved."

This article was first published as a blog post on CNET News.

Talkback

Amazon, Microsoft sign patent deal

What crap! What blackmail! What patent?

One February 23, 2010

RE: Amazon, Microsoft sign patent deal

Indeed. If I was a major stock owner of either of those companies I would demand to see which patents that are being licenced - and tell the board to screw the NDA. Microsofts "230 patents" that they never disclose publicly (although a few really sad ones were outed regarding FAT in the TomTom case). If they really bothered about "IP" they would point at the patents and let open source engineer around them. This is however NOT their agenda - they want to make open source non-gratis (because a price of 0 is a very scary competitor).

Jens February 23, 2010

RE: Amazon, Microsoft sign patent deal

Indeed. If I was a major stock owner of either of those companies I would demand to see which patents that are being licenced - and tell the board to screw the NDA. Microsofts "230 patents" that they never disclose publicly (although a few really sad ones were outed regarding FAT in the TomTom case). If they really bothered about "IP" they would point at the patents and let open source engineer around them. This is however NOT their agenda - they want to make open source non-gratis (because a price of 0 is a very scary competitor).

Jens February 23, 2010

Amazon, Microsoft sign patent deal

Microsoft is a pathetic piece of slime. What they are doing is running an extortion racket at the expense of Linux. They are basically collecting money for code they did not lift a finger to write. HELLO LINUS!! , Moglen, Linux Foundation, OSI Is anyone going to speak up and sue Microsoft or are you going to sit back and let them rake in license fees for work that you have done? How do you linux and GNU coders enjoy working for free for Microsoft? I guess the community does not have the stomach to take on MS about this issue so they are going to sit back and let the Microsoft slime monetize their labor and do nothing about it. Way to go open source community.

Andydread February 23, 2010
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