The relentless underhanded assault against Linux

The latest attack announced last week is in the form of a lawsuit against Red Hat and *gasp* Novell by a patent troll.. er, patent holding company. You can check out the patent for yourself here: http://www.google.com/patents?id=3tUkAAAAEBAJ&dq=5,072,412

Surprise, surprise - the interesting thing about this company that is suing Red Hat and Novell is that it's made up of several "former" Microsoft executives: http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20071011205044141

First of all, I'm sure that Microsoft licensed this patent from Acacia (the parent of the patent holding company, IP Innovations, LLC) so why doesn't the MS/Novell IP protection deal cover this patent? Perhaps Microsoft is getting around this little snag by having IP Innovations sue Novell by proxy. Wow, I didn't see that coming. Honestly, raise your hand if you thought Novell getting in bed with Microsoft would end well. Xandros, watch your back.

Luckily, we have a heavy hitter on our side, as well. A coalition of companies, led by IBM, NEC, Novell, Philips, Red Hat and Sony, have created the Open Invention Network in order to provide Linux companies legal protection against these types of lawsuits. From their website:

Open Invention NetworkSM is an intellectual property company that was formed to promote Linux by using patents to create a collaborative environment. It promotes a positive, fertile ecosystem for Linux, which in turns drives innovation and choice in the global marketplace. This helps ensure the continuation of innovation that has benefited software vendors, customers, emerging markets and investors.
http://www.openinventionnetwork.com/about.php

Microsoft is getting more and more bold, folks. We're being pushed - whether we like it or not - into a showdown with one of the most powerful companies in the world. Let's hope the allies we count among us now don't leave the battle as it's just getting interesting.