Microsoft agitates for open-source patent pacts

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A bit of a slant.

"...winning payment for technology the company believes it deserves from a group that's generally been unwilling to pony up."

"...make Red Hat, the top Linux seller, overcome its current unwillingness to pay..."

"...not everyone believes the open-source gang egregiously violates the intellectual property regime."

All three of these snippets contain subtle, but real, prejudicial implications. The first two, referring to an "unwillingness to pay," strongly imply that the obligation to pay in fact exists but that Red Hat and unnamed other parties are willfully refusing to acknowledge that debt. The fact of the matter is that no such obligation is known to exist, and won't be known unless and until Microsoft specifically identifies, and demonstrates, the exact nature of that obligation. Until that happens, it's all attempted-extortion-by-FUD.

In the third snippet, the phrase "...not everyone believes..." implies that the subject of that belief is in fact true and that those who don't believe it are in a small minority and, by implication, probably wrong. The use of the word "gang" also has pejorative connotations.

I have no idea if Stephen Shankland intended these implications, but I do suggest that, if he didn't, he be a bit more careful in his choice of words.

Posted by: Henry Miller   Posted on: 05/15/07 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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