● 04.14.16

●● European Patent Office a Microsoft Stronghold: GNU/Linux and Mac Support Seemingly Just Dumped

Posted in Apple, Europe, GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Patents at 8:26 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Microsoft is an EPO V.I.P. (a marriage made in Hell)

Summary: Yet more examples of preferential treatment for Microsoft at the EPO, which merely helps a foreign company, Microsoft, make sales, e.g. of Windows (even spyware!), and launch lawsuits against GNU/Linux in Europe, having enjoyed a fast lane and outrageous tolerance of software patents (Microsoft even bragged about this)

LAST month we wrote about the worrisome technical relationship between the EPO and Microsoft [1, 2], setting aside preferential treatment for Microsoft as a patent applicant (which does a lot of patent aggression against European companies that ‘dare’ to distribute Linux). The EPO has become just as abusive as Microsoft if not a lot worse and moreover, just like Microsoft, it somehow believes that it is above the law and that it can get away with virtually anything, even mass surveillance without consent.

At 34 minutes past midnight (less than two hours ago) the EPO announced this new release. Well, looking at the download page (warning: epo.org link), we find this:

These self-explanatory screenshots suggest either that the EPO dumped support for any platform other than Windows or it deliberately leaves these ‘bad’ platforms behind, despite Java being cross-platform. Microsoft must be very, very pleased and happy with its lapdogs at the EPO. To quote the page: “BiSSAP version 1.3.6, currently available only for Windows users. Mac OS and Linux versions will not be updated to be compatible with Java 8.” Whose office is this? █

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