Microsoft Claims Ownership Of The Internet,

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November 08, 2004

Microsoft Claims Ownership Of The Internet

Intellectual Property

 

 

November 08, 2004

Microsoft Claims Ownership Of The Internet

Intellectual Property

 

According to an article by eWeek dated Friday Nov. 5th 2004, Microsoft

appears to be claiming intellectual property rights on over 130

Internet protocols that make up the very core of the Internet

inrastructure. These protocols include for example TCP/IP and the DNS

system.

 

The story emerged as Larry J. Blunk, a senior network engineer with

Merit Network wrote a note to the IAB members of the IETF (Internet

Engineering Task Force). In the note, dated October 30th Mr Blunk wrote:

 

" Dear IAB members,

I wish to express my concerns regarding Microsoft's Royalty Free

Protocol License Agreement dated Apr 19, 2004 and published on their

website at the following URL.

 

Additionally, a FAQ document is available at the following location.

 

The Agreement specifies a total of 130 protocols which Microsoft

is offering for license " under any applicable intellectual property

rights that Microsoft may have... " .

 

Many of the listed protocols are RFC documents, including, but not

limited to, the core TCP/IP v4 and TCP/IP v6 protocol specifications.

 

Microsoft does not specify how this list of protocols was derived

and to what extent they have investigated their possible rights

holdings over these protocols.

 

The list appears to be a near, but not completely, exhaustive list

of public protocols implemented in Microsoft products. For example,

the SMTP protocol is

missing from the list.

 

...

 

The fact that a significant number of protocols date from the

early 1980's, a time during which Microsoft had little patent

activity, suggests that there is no reason to suspect that Microsoft

has any patent rights to these early protocols (such as the TCP/IP v4

core protocols). Further, in the unlikely event that applicable

patents may be discovered, they would have likely expired at this point.

 

...

 

It is my concern that by merely suggesting they may hold

applicable rights to these protocols, Microsoft is injecting a

significant amount of unwarranted uncertainty and doubt regarding

non-Microsoft implementations of these protocols.

 

It is quite likely that an individual or organization would be

intimidated into signing the license agreement simply due to

Microsoft's vast financial and legal resources. Further, because

Microsoft provides no reference to any proof of applicable rights

holdings (such as patent numbers), it is impossible to ascertain

whether Microsoft indeed has legitimate rights holdings.

 

Of additional concern is the onerous and restrictive conditions

attached to the license agreement. In particular, the limitations

which restrict implementations to " Server Software or a component of

Server Software " and the requirement that implementations " are

compliant with the relevant Technical Documentation. "

 

...

 

 

Sincerely,

Larry J. Blunk "

 

 

In its own article entitled " Is Microsoft Ready to Assert IP Rights

over the Internet? " eWeek's own Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols reported:

 

" Has Microsoft been trying to retroactively claim IP (intellectual

property) rights over many of the Internet's basic protocols? Larry J.

Blunk, senior engineer for networking research and development at

Merit Network Inc., believes that might be the case.

 

Blunk pointed out that Microsoft is claiming some form of IP

rights over " a total of 130 protocols which Microsoft is offering for

license. "

 

 

According to eWeek, Microsoft says that this is all a major

misunderstanding and that it is working hard to provide some major

clarifications on this issue in the coming days.

 

" Microsoft is aware of the letter to the IAB and is working on a

response to the concerns raised by the letter author and on providing

clarity about our participation in standards-setting activities, " said

Mark Martin, a Microsoft spokesperson. " In the end, we believe this is

simply a misunderstanding which we are working hard to clarify. "

 

Having read the license in question, I am sure that if you have any

reponsible concern about the future evolution of this thing called the

Internet, you should be proactively seeking Microsoft prompt

clarification on this issue.

 

 

See also: Concerns regarding Microsoft's Royalty Free Protocol License

Agreement

 

Full list of protocols involved and Microsoft License Agreement

 

 

eWeek - [via Slashdot] -- [ Read more ]

 

Posted on November 08, 2004 at 08:24 AM

 

 

 

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