OSIA says Ballmer is talking bolony
OSIA says Ballmer is talking bolony
Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft, has had his warning of Linux not really being free given the intellectual-risks thrown back in his face by the director of Open Source Industry Australia, who claims that Microsoft is now running scared.
Ballmer told government officials in Singapore that a report in the summer by an open source group revealed that Linux breaks over 228 patents.
The actual number found by Open Source Risk Management, is 283 patents, but Ballmer was making the point that one day these companies will eventually look for the money to pay for the patent rights.
However, Con Zymaris, the CEO of Cybersource and the director of OSIA, said that Ballmer's comments are not relevant outside of America, and this is just another sign that Microsoft are losing the battle with Linux.
"All patent software rules from the U.S. don't travel out of America, unlike international copyright rules. The U.S. patent laws do not affect most regions in the rest of the world, such as Australia, Europe and Asia, so he is just creating this boogieman to compete with Linux.
"It's showing that Microsoft is realising that it can't compete with us and Ballmer is trying to scare off customers in Asia, following the recent migration of 20,000 seats in the Singaporean government from Microsoft Office to Open Office.
Zymaris added that there is no risk factor and even if there was, Linux users can shop around for good indemnity policies to protect them, instead of the single indemnity option offered by Microsoft.
"Microsoft did not even have indemnity policy, until two weeks ago, after we had recently pointed it out to them that they did not have a policy in place.
"So companies in Australia will not be affected by these software patent laws, at all, unless the government changes things under the U.S. Free Trade Agreement. But at the moment, I am surprised that Microsoft has resorted to this kind of attack so soon. It just goes to show that they know they can't compete with us....but we haven't even started yet. It should be an interesting battle over the next few years."
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