Is MS moving on the Net?
p2pnet.net News:- Microsoft seems to be claiming IP rights to many vital Internet protocols and in the process, "is injecting a significant amount of unwarranted uncertainty and doubt regarding non-Microsoft implementations of these protocols".
Moreover, some of the RFC protocols Microsoft claims it may have IP rights over, such as the TCP/IP protocols and the DNS (Domain Name System), form the very bedrock of the Internet’s network infrastructure.
That’s the belief of Larry J. Blunk, senior engineer for networking research and development at Merit Network, as quoted in eWeek.
His concerns are of special interest given Microsoft’s failure with its infamous Sender ID.
eWeek says Blunk, worried about Microsoft’s Royalty Free Protocol License Agreement, and sent a note to the IETF’s Intellectual Property Rights Working Group pointing out that Microsoft is claiming some form of IP rights over "a total of 130 protocols which Microsoft is offering for license".
"Many of the listed protocols are [IETF] RFC [request for comment] documents, including but not limited to the core TCP/IP v4 and TCP/IP v6 protocol specifications," Blunk is quoted as saying, going on:
"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.
"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," he said. "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."
eWeek has laywer Lawrence Rosen, author of "Open Source Licensing: Software Freedom and Intellectual Property Law," saying, "As much as I can tell, this is the same license that the open-source community found unacceptable in the Sender ID matter. Microsoft now seems to be imposing that agreement on many other potential IETF standards.
"This is probably Microsoft’s strategy, to impose licensing friction in the open-source distribution process. IETF’s failure to respond appropriately to the Sender ID proposal has left the door wide open for this mischief."
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See:-
belief – Is Microsoft Ready to Assert IP Rights over the Internet?, eWeek, November 5, 2004
Sender ID – Return to Sender-ID?, p2pnet, September 9, 2004
