The past two weeks were quite eventful. Especially regarding patents, where a surprisingly huge amount of critique over patents was done, after the Nortel patent portfolio is being bought by the Rockstar consortium (Apple, Microsoft, RIM, etc.). I would especially like to point you out to the two articles published by Forbes (see Software Patents)
As far as business and patents go, the biggest news item was probably Google planning to acquire Motorola Mobility (see Free Software Business).
In the Open Standards department, there is an interesting shift, as Skype (recently acquired by Microsoft) decides to use Google's VP8 open standard video codec for their video calls.
I would like to thank Natalia Evdokimova for her help with collecting these links.
Free Software Licensing¶
ArsTechnica: Study: Android is least open of open source mobile platforms
H-online: Swiss proprietary companies block government open source release
Computer World UK: Time to Adopt the Brazilian Model of Public Software?
Openlogic: LibreOffice vs. OpenOffice.org: Showdown for Best Open Source Office Suite
CourtHouseNews: Westinghouse Sanctioned in Case Over Open Source
Arstechnica: Creative Commons images and you: a quick guide for image users
Free Software Business¶
H-online: Solving Microsoft's hard problem
Google Blog: Supercharging Android: Google to Acquire Motorola Mobility
CNet: Google to buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5B
Google Incvestor: Google to Acquire Motorola Mobility
Business Insider: BOMBSHELL: Google Buying Handset Maker Motorola Mobility For $12.5 Billion
GigaOM: Exclusive: Guess who else wanted to buy Motorola?
Software Patents¶
ArsTechnica: Google-Microsoft spat could be tiny step toward patent reform
Which?: Tech ‘patent wars’ are bad for consumers
ArsTechnica: Ask Ars: Is serious patent reform on the horizon?
Techcrunch: Samsung Considers InterDigital’s Patent Trove Along With Apple, Google
The Inquirer: Apple, Google and Samsung fight for 8,800 mobile patents
Forbes: Google Should Publicly Oppose Software Patents
Phandroid: Motorola Confident in Patent Strength, Could Be Google’s Biggest Ally
NPR: The Tuesday Podcast: The Patent War
Groklaw: A Brief Explanation of Microsoft's Anti-Google Patent FUD
The Inquirer: Microsoft bats away Google criticism over Android patents
The Inquirer: Google Microsoft patent row turns into a squabble
Techcrunch: Google Threw A Punch, Microsoft Fires Back With A Missile
ArsTechnica: Google publicly accuses Apple, Microsoft, Oracle of patent bullying
ArsTechnica: Microsoft calls Google out over patent bullying accusations
The Economist: Patents against prosperity
Arstechnica: iOS devs put out a call to unite against Lodsys, other patent trolls
The Inquirer: Google buys 1,000 IBM patents
The Inquirer: Android is under attack from patent vultures
Arstechnica: Are software patents the "scaffolding of the tech industry"?
Yahoo: Why Patents Need to Be Abolished, Now
BetaBeat: Patent Trolls Come in All Shapes and Sizes
PaidContent: Motorola Reminds World That The Best Patent Defense Can Be A Good Offense
Forbes: Software Is Just Math. Really.
Independent: Are there now so many patents in Silicon Valley that it's impossible to innovate?
Techdirt: Patent Holders Trying To Drag 3rd Parties Into Patent Disputes
Techcentral: Mark Shuttleworth on patents, tablets and the future of Ubuntu
Wired: Google Steps Up to Defend Android Developers From Patent Lawsuit
Glyn Moody’s blog: Patents: just do the maths
Groklaw: Oracle v. Google – The '720 Patent In Play In Reexam
Forbes: Turn The Tables On Patent Trolls
Opensource.com: Speaking of software patents
Open Standards¶
ComputerWorldUK, Glyn Moody’s blog: When in Romania…
Gigaom: Skype goes VP8, embraces open video codec
The Inquirer: Skype decides to use VP8 for its video calling
Government and Free Software Policies¶
OSOR: BR: Government signs up to develop OpenOffice and LibreOffice
OSOR: EU-law on re-use of public sector data may include source code
OSOR: FR/TN: France and Tunisia to cooperate in Open Source Software
TechRights: European Produrement Rules Need Review for Built-in Bias
Open Knowledge Foundation Blog: Austria adopts CKAN and CC-BY as nation-wide defaults
Copyright and Other Legal Act Reforms¶
The Telegraph: An outdated law that puts a cap on creativity
ArsTechnica: Shock, awe: British government agrees that copyright has gone too far
Arstechnica: Apple stops Samsung, wins EU-wide injunction against Galaxy Tab 10.1
The Inquirer: Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 gets banned in Europe
Other interesting links¶
ArsTecnhica: Developers still divided on mobile app monetization, but love the cloud
The Inquirer: Google is facing nine European Commission complaints
The Inquirer: The PC is dead, claims IBM executive
DW-World.de: Facebook violates German law, Hamburg data protection official says
the H Security: Google also passes on European data to US authorities
Dr.Drobb's: Encrypt Early, Encrypt Often!
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