thelinuxlink.net

http://www.businessinsider.com/microsof ... nts-2009-2

Well thats what the headline said, not exactly true, but....

Microsoft running on FAT reserves? Or fumes?
Feb. 26, 2009

http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS9320107601.html


If by suing TomTom, Microsoft wins the right to charge for ubiquitous FAT filesystem features like long filenames and flash wear-leveling, it could spell real trouble for Linux device makers. Not to mention SAMBA distributors. OTOH, decades of non-enforcement are going make tough sailing for Redmond legal on this one.

Microsoft announced the suit today. The suit against Linux devicemaker TomTom alleges three FAT-related infringements, along with five related to proprietary user-space applications.

The five user-space suits may well have merit. We suspect the FAT-related suits were just thrown in for FUD value, though.

Microsoft has little chance of enforcing any patents it may have related to FAT, because for decades, the company found it quite convenient to let FAT become the "lingua franca" for all kinds of removable storage media, from floppy disks to USB keys to the SD cards that let TomTom users transport map data between their PCs and their in-car navigation devices. It's sort of like the whole GIF thing. A company can't just sit idly by, and let its patents go unenforced for years, and then clamp down. This sort of "bait-and-switch" tactic gets no respect in the American legal system, and rightly so. It didn't fly too well in Germany, either.

It seems to me that Microsoft would never have stooped to this kind of thing in the proud days of Bill Gates. I mean really. Microsoft is not usually mentioned in the same sentence as, say, Unisys, or CA, or pre-Macromedia Adobe. If the day has come when Microsoft has to start looking to its patent portfolio as a revenue source, the company could be hurting worse than anyone yet realizes.

It seems to me that Microsoft would never have stooped to this kind of thing in the proud days of Bill Gates.

I thought they had sued over this issue years ago. You kidding right? Freedos and Reactos are wondering about this lawsuit also. drdos turned into freedos. Why has MS never gone after them. Personally I think this will become a pr disaster for Microsoft in the long run and come back to bite them. Will they be suing over ntfs next? I think there should be a class action lawsuit against Microsoft for selling insecure systems because of all the virus problems and other spyware issues. Wonder if old msdos disks will start selling at garage sales.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Allocation_Table
http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/ms-dos/history.html


Think Bilski
In any case:
update:
1. I am told that GPS was used by the military long before MS came around.
2. If not the fat file system, the 8.3 file name format and a variant of the fat file system was used by CPM/MPM long before MS came around. You could also probably include Trsdos, Apple advanced dos, and variety of other os's to the list.

Case closed. MS go home.