Patent trolls target their next victim: Cloud computing
Grazed from InfoWorld. Author: Simon Phipps.
With the shift to cloud well under way, can we expect to see the same innovation-crushing surge of patent abuse in the field of cloud computing? Given the increasing deal sizes in the cloud space, the move by market leaders to focus on cloud for future growth, and the shortfall of current reform activity to restrict only the most egregious patent trolls (and not those using trolling as a line-of-business within a larger enterprise), it seems foreordained.
Much of cloud computing relies deeply on open source software. So the cloud news from the OIN (Open Invention Network) that broke in December — that Google would join and OIN would cover OpenStack — should come as no surprise. Why is the attack of the trolls inevitable? First, cloud computing has deep roots in clustering, scientific computing, and data analysis — and those have been favored topics for university research for years…
Birlasoft, the IT services arm of the CK Birla group and a global Information Technology Services provider present across US, UK, Europe and APAC, has announced the acquisition of EnablePath, a fast growing CRM solutions provider and Salesforce.com Gold Cloud Alliance Partner based in Atlanta, USA. With this acquisition Birlasoft aims to drive specialized expertise in strategic high-end business consulting, cloud transition, implementation, integration and app exchange services developed on the Salesforce.com platform to provide full-suite of solutions around sales, service, marketing and related cloud environments value chain, in the enterprise and commercial mid-market segments.
This was announced on January 10, 2014 by the Verizon Company that its customers can now use Oracle Fusion middleware and Oracle DB on their cloud computing infrastructure. The customers have double options to use Oracle platforms; they can bring their own Oracle license to use Oracle DB and middleware on Verizon infrastructure or they can also get the Oracle DB and middleware services that are already available with licenses on Verizon cloud services.
Dropbox said Sunday it was making progress in restoring service after the popular file storage service went offline on Friday. As of Sunday afternoon Pacific time, the service said more than 99 percent of users can access their files. But five percent of users were having trouble syncing files from the desktop client, and about 20 percent were having issues with Dropbox’s mobile applications.
When someone says "the cloud," the first example people usually think of is Amazon. Likewise, when someone says "software as a service," the first example is most often Salesforce.com. It’s like Xerox and copiers, Kleenex and tissue paper, or Coca-Cola and soft drinks. It takes an extraordinary market presence—not to mention staying power—to become the preeminent enterprise in a specific sector.
After two years of back-and-forth litigation between broadcasters and Aereo (a CCIA member), the Supreme Court agreed today to hear an appeal of the Second Circuit’s decision in favor of Aereo. (S.Ct. Dkt. No. 13-461). The court’s eventual decision as to the legality of Aereo’s streaming TV service will have significant ramifications in the cloud computing industry. When broadcasters sought Supreme Court review late last year, Aereo took the unconventional position of agreeing to review for a case it had won, explaining that it wanted to fight on the merits, rather than wage a "wasteful war of attrition."