This article is more than 1 year old

Microsoft touts cheap-ish anti-patent troll protection shield for Azure-hosted devs

If $1,000 a month is cheap, sure

Patent trolls are a growing problem, and Microsoft thinks that it has the solution – an affordable-ish protection scheme for Azure customers.

Under the newly announced Azure IP Advantage program, users of Microsoft's cloud compute service can sign up and get the backing of Redmond's arsenal of more than 10,000 technology patents. Azure users can use those protected designs to fend off trolls if it's alleged code hosted on Azure infringes someone else's intellectual property.

"Our goal is to help foster a community that values and protects innovation and investments in the cloud," said Microsoft's chief legal officer Brad Smith in a blog post.

"We want software developers to be able to focus on coding, and businesses and enterprises to be able to respond to the changing needs of their customers with agility without worrying about lawsuits."

There are some caveats. You have to spent at least $1,000 a month on Azure for the past three months, and it's not retroactive, so you can't sign up if you are already being sued or are suing another Azure customer.

Youtube Video

For those worrying about the scenario of someone signing up to get protection, building software that's covered by a Microsoft patent so it can't be sued by a rival, and then getting a call from Redmond's crack legal eagles saying: "That's a nice application you've got there, all covered by our patent. It would be a terrible shame if something was to happen to it, and by it we mean your product...", don't be too scared. Apparently, Redmond won't pursue you.

"I don’t believe Microsoft does that, unlike another competitor," a spokesperson for the Windows giant told The Reg. We wonder who that could possibly be referring to? Maybe the answer is found in our forums. Please do post away.

Meanwhile, intellectual property lawyer Barry Sookman is very skeptical of Microsoft's protection program. ®

PS: Did you know, Microsoft has created a Windows bug tracker? Well, it has.

More about

More about

More about

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like