Microsoft Opens Its WiFi Data Collection Source Code; Why Doesn't Google Do The Same?

from the important-questions dept

Google's been facing a lot of difficulty lately due to its ridiculously dumb implementation of its WiFi access point data collection software. Lots of companies use such software to try to create a location map that can be used in the absence of GPS. Both Microsoft and Apple have similar projects, and yet it's really only Google that's gotten in trouble for theirs, mainly for the way it collected data. Now comes the news that Microsoft is releasing the source code of their WiFi data collection software, which only serves to raise more questions about why Apple and Google haven't done the same.

Filed Under: data collection, open source, wifi
Companies: apple, google, microsoft

Google Wants Another Court To Determine If Accessing Open WiFi Is Wiretapping

from the maybe-someone-who-understands-tech dept

After an apparently, technically clueless judge ruled last week that WiFi is not a radio communication, and thus suggested Google's collection of open WiFi data represents illegal wiretapping, Google has asked for an immediate appeal on that point, noting that "reasonable judges could disagree," and that fighting a whole trial on other points wouldn't make sense if another court says WiFi is, in fact, a radio communication and, thus, an open WiFi network is not subject to wiretap laws.

Filed Under: open wifi, packet sniffing, street view, wifi, wiretap
Companies: google

Patents As Theft: How Oracle & Microsoft Seek To Profit From Android Despite Having Nothing To Do With It

from the shameful dept

People talk about patent laws as if they're about "protecting property." If only that were true. In most cases, they seem to be about the exact opposite. They're about getting paid for things that don't belong to you and which you had absolutely nothing to do with. Take, for example, Google's Android operating system. Microsoft has been using its patents to demand a cut of every Android phone. In fact, people have pointed out that Microsoft is likely going to make more money from Android than it makes from its own competing mobile operating system. Now add to that Oracle's decision to demand $15 to $20 for every Android device, and what you get seems like highway robbery. You have two companies -- Oracle and Microsoft -- who have done absolutely nothing to contribute to Android in any way, but who are both using large questionable patent portfolios to demand a cut. That's not protecting or encouraging innovation. That seems like the exact opposite. It seems to be shaking down people for cash that they have no right to. I'd argue that's much more like "theft" than anyone who infringes on a patent by building something the market wants.

Filed Under: android, licenses, patents, smartphones
Companies: google, microsoft, oracle