Google’s stance on the patent situation is disingenuous in the extreme. It may not be a perfect system, but there needs to be some protection for innovation (Google’s claim that patents are anti-innovation makes no sense to me) and the fact they turned-down an offer to join Microsoft and Apple in bidding for the Nortel patents means this argument looks like sour-grapes from the loser.
Google have no shame in doing one thing privately and saying something completely different in public (“Don’t be evil” vs. Eric Schmidt’s comments on privacy / Android openness vs. not releasing source code, stifling Android customisation etc.).
At least Microsoft and Apple make few claims to saintliness. They are in a competitive industry. Even when Apple was close to bankruptcy in the late 90’s, Steve Jobs didn’t seek to blame others for the problems (eg Microsoft – Mr Jobs specifically argued against people seeing Apple vs. Microsoft as a zero-sum game, but rather built an alliance with them (Microsoft invested in Apple at that time).
 TechCrunch (@TechCrunch)04/08/2011t 08:10 Why Did Google Blog About Patents Today? Because The Nortel Loss Was Just The Beginning. http://tcrn.ch/pW177s by @parislemon |