Cheating and Plagiarism in Software –Thin Line Grows Dimmer

To say, I’ve never been too judgemental, well, I’ve always been trying to stay away from the radical judgemental stuff, it sounds more honest this way)).

Anyhow, sometimes, it’s hard to be absolutely neutral in your opinions, and the matter of “cheating” in software industry is one of such aspects. Occasionally, you’re too taken aback to keep silent.

One of such occasions is the recent news about Microsoft taking royalties from the companies who they’ve signed Android patent deals with, like the latest agreement with Compal Electronics (China).

As far as cheating in a whole, whereas we’ve already got more or less accustomed to cases of plagiarism between the major rivals (iPad clones, and “similar” designs of thin touch smartphones, for instance), the fact that the respectful company takes financial advantage from initially free Android platform is nothing but appaling.

Again, even if to put all the judgemental stuff aside, are such deals completely legal? And if not, then how much can it eventually cost the company, if one of the competitors will decide upon taking the case to court?

It’s hard to say, if Google, for example, will sue Microsoft, or concentrate on its own business, but I’d be furious, if I were the company’s board member.

Here, of course, Microsoft’s behavior can’t evoke positive outlook from the side of their rivals or even the average users, as me, for example. But this turns out to be most dangerous in terms of large companies becoming absolutely shameless in their desire to make more money, using all disposible methods.

I certainly acknowledge that it’s hard to create something unique now, when it seems that everything unique has already been created. And it’s also hard to yield a temptation to make more money, if there’s a possibility to.

But I wish we would be less concentrated on financial side and pay more attention to creative part of every software product. No one needs 100 almost alike smartphones, strangely reminding us of iPhones, no one needs 100 YouTube clones, no one needs 100 alike file-sharing sites, oddly similar to 4shared, and no one needs the software companies, trying to fool everyone.

At least, that’s how I see it.


Stay cool)
Andy