Google: Microsoft Revealed Our Secret Source Code

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According to this article, Google's lawyers have accused Microsoft of revealing "highly confidential" Android source code to an expert witness that will testify in the company's ITC case against Motorola.

The expert accessed the source code as part of Microsoft’s ITC case against Motorola, which alleges that some Android-powered Motorola phones violate Microsoft patents. Microsoft’s ITC case against Motorola is one of several “proxy battles” against Android-powered phones. Microsoft wants to use patents to collect royalties on every Android-powered handset, and has reached settlements in some cases, including with HTC.
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Google needs too get microsoft in court and take apart those supposed patents so that those vendors that have already been conned out of royalties will be freed from those royalty payments that are keeping microsoft's phone division afloat
 
This stuff justest make sense. The only way it would is if the patents were hardware related or addons these companies are putting on top of android.

If the issue is with android itself why aren't the cases against Google? Is it because they are smaller and cannot defend themselves? Is it because Google is providing it free and open, thus not liable?

I swear in the past companies brought patent issues up directly to the open source development teams. Aka Linux...
 
JakCrow said:
Google needs too get microsoft in court and take apart those supposed patents so that those vendors that have already been conned out of royalties will be freed from those royalty payments that are keeping microsoft's phone division afloat
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My guess is that at least under current law Microsoft's hand is fairly strong which is why Google is kind of sitting on the sidelines.
 
What "secret" source code? Am I daft in the head or is Android not Open Source? Perhaps I got hit in the head with a brick or something, but Google publishes the source code for Android under the BSD license. So what are they complaining about?
 
Solidstate89 said:
What "secret" source code? Am I daft in the head or is Android not Open Source? Perhaps I got hit in the head with a brick or something, but Google publishes the source code for Android under the BSD license. So what are they complaining about?
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Guess they must not publish one line of code and microsoft found it.
 
I doubt he source code was over the Android OS... I'm sure it was either proprietary software/drivers that goes along with Android.
 
JakCrow said:
Google needs too get microsoft in court and take apart those supposed patents so that those vendors that have already been conned out of royalties will be freed from those royalty payments that are keeping microsoft's phone division afloat
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Goggle would lose big they do not have a leg to stand on and they know it. All goggle is going to accomplish with all this cry baby BS is encourage a anti-trust investigation in to why exactly they are dropping a phone OS into the market for free... and Goggle will not like the way that goes.
 
dandirk said:
This stuff justest make sense. The only way it would is if the patents were hardware related or addons these companies are putting on top of android.

If the issue is with android itself why aren't the cases against Google? Is it because they are smaller and cannot defend themselves? Is it because Google is providing it free and open, thus not liable?
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It isn't that Google isn't liable. It is that Google can't really be threatened with an injunction that would harm it's bottom line. It would probably be a lot harder to get a judge to grant a complete Android injunction and even then Google doesn't charge for it and wouldn't suffer revenue loss like a phone vendor.

MS can threaten a smartphone vendor with a lawsuit that could halt distribution of their latest hot phone and even just being late could kill a model in a competetive market.

I figure MS must have a fairly strong hand since many vendors caved in quickly and decided to pay up, but some of the same Vendors are choosing to fight Apple (HTC).
 
Google doesnt open source many parts of Android, including drivers / certain io / any and all "google" apps specific to the handset, even if they are distributed with Android.
 
Cali3350 said:
Google doesnt open source many parts of Android, including drivers / certain io / any and all "google" apps specific to the handset, even if they are distributed with Android.
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Well if those components are the ones that are supposedly infringing, and MS revealed it in court, then Google's gripe is legit because??? If the answer is "Because they got caught." then they're just having a tantrum.

Google, either indemnify the companies that feeding your mobile based revenue stream or pay for the cross licences like everyone else does. It's not a great system, but it's the system we've got and even the world's largest advertising company needs to play by the same rules.
 
Steve said:
According to this article, Google's lawyers have accused Microsoft of revealing "highly confidential" Android source code to an expert witness that will testify in the company's ITC case against Motorola.
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Huh?

Isn't Android open source? What is so secret about that?
 
JakCrow said:
Google needs too get microsoft in court and take apart those supposed patents so that those vendors that have already been conned out of royalties will be freed from those royalty payments that are keeping microsoft's phone division afloat
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That's easy for you to say but unlike patent trolls, Microsoft actually uses their patents.
 
Kaitian said:
That's easy for you to say but unlike patent trolls, Microsoft actually uses their patents.
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Probably. I bet they patent a lot of stuff their guys come up with, but never use. Although we see the same form Apple and others who are "real" companies.

I do wish the sosftware patent process would be reformed some. I'm not agsinst them, but as is they're pretty much broken.

But, IMHO, this is just the last gasp of Windows Phone. It's nice. But it's so limited. Even with "Mango" it's not 1/10th as capable as a generic Andoid phone.
 
ianken said:
Probably. I bet they patent a lot of stuff their guys come up with, but never use. Although we see the same form Apple and others who are "real" companies.

I do wish the sosftware patent process would be reformed some. I'm not agsinst them, but as is they're pretty much broken.

But, IMHO, this is just the last gasp of Windows Phone. It's nice. But it's so limited. Even with "Mango" it's not 1/10th as capable as a generic Andoid phone.
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You've never used Mango have you? It has most if not all the functionality that people need for operating a phone. I own one and did use Mango for a while. I only flashed back so I can make the jump from NoDo's to Mango in September.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/27/windows-phone-7-5-mango-in-depth-preview-video/ With the Nokia alliance & Skype as a part of their platform, they might start seeing something going their way especially when Nokia holds a good size in the European market & dominates the Chinese market.

I know it's easy for you trash on something you haven't tried.

Also it doesn't matter if Microsoft makes royalty money on android phones. If these manufacturer's don't want to pay royalty, they're free to stop using Microsoft's patents. The hardware manufacturers probably pay them because they know MS's claims are valid probably due to the fact they use them in WP7. Even if WP7 flops, it's still not patent trolling because MS unlike many others actually implemented it into reality.
 
JakCrow said:
Google needs too get microsoft in court and take apart those supposed patents so that those vendors that have already been conned out of royalties will be freed from those royalty payments that are keeping microsoft's phone division afloat
Click to expand...

They have avoided that fight for a good reason.
 
JakCrow said:
Google needs too get microsoft in court and take apart those supposed patents so that those vendors that have already been conned out of royalties will be freed from those royalty payments that are keeping microsoft's phone division afloat
Click to expand...

that be crazy on google's part honestly, the problem? MS has alot of legit patents, be it they use it not , most of their patents are not stupid like lets say a company with a fruit in their logo :D , if you look and dig in closely, MS is one of those companies that have more lets say reasonable royalties nowadays, compared to alot of shithead companies out there.
 
Kaitian said:
....Even if WP7 flops, it's still not patent trolling because MS unlike many others actually implemented it into reality.
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Good grief do you work for MS? The patents they are talking about were originally Novell's not MS.
 
I wish everyone would stop calling Androd Open Source. Everyone repeats this because Google says this but low and behold, they are in effect saying that it isn't open source after all, something that has been known forever.
 
Staples said:
I wish everyone would stop calling Androd Open Source. Everyone repeats this because Google says this but low and behold, they are in effect saying that it isn't open source after all, something that has been known forever.
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Honeycomb still isnt out at all. The amount of wool-over-eyes Google gets away with is unreal.
 
kac77 said:
Good grief do you work for MS? The patents they are talking about were originally Novell's not MS.
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Your point being? Unlike most companies, Microsoft do implements most of their patents. Can you prove otherwise? The reason it's easy for me to prove is that why are the hardware manufacturers paying Microsoft instead of contesting them? Where in the article does it talk about Novell?

Oh wait you're talking about the whole latest purchase of patents from Novell in another different story of which that purchase took place recently AFTER THE FACT.
 
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