licensing

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on licensing:

Google’s search payments to Apple could diminish this year

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What’s it like to have your startup bought by Apple? Stressful
Apple's Google cash is an easy source of money.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The money that Google pays Apple to be the default iOS search engine is poised to become a much smaller part of Apple’s Services revenue.

In its most recent quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple singled out licensing as one of the main factors for its 31 percent increase in Services revenue over the past quarter. But Google parent company Alphabet told investors that the money paid to distribution partners — including Apple — will slow down this year.

Apple paid Nokia $2 billion in cash to settle patent battle

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Nokia
Keeping Nokia at bay isn't cheap.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Apple paid $2 billion in cash to settle its most recent patent battle with Nokia.

Neither party revealed the sum when they put their differences aside and entered into a new licensing and business cooperation agreement back in May. But Nokia’s earnings reveal that the Finnish firm received a massive payout to drop its patent lawsuit.

Apple asks court to block Qualcomm double-dipping

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Qualcomm patents
Apple doesn't want to pay twice for Qualcomm chips.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s ongoing legal battle with Qualcomm just got even more interesting after the iPhone-maker branded its partner’s license agreements invalid.

Cupertino is fighting to prevent Qualcomm from taking a cut of every iPhone sold, and to prevent the chipmaker’s alleged double-dipping to maximize revenue it earns from its modem chips.

Apple and Nokia join forces after settling patent dispute

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Nokia
Keeping Nokia at bay isn't cheap.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Apple and Nokia have settled their ongoing patent dispute and entered a new licensing and business cooperation agreement.

Apple will resume selling Nokia digital health products, formerly sold under the Withings brand, while Nokia will provide Apple with network infrastructure products and services.

Flickr boosts chances to make money from your iPhone pics

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Flickr

Flickr has just jumped into the photo licensing market with both feet, hoping to help you sell your stunning photos to a variety of “photo agencies, editors, bloggers and other creative minds.”

Image licensing isn’t a new idea for Flickr, long a repository for the best in high-quality photos posted by professional and amateur photographers alike. Flickr’s always allowed photographers easy access to creative commons licensing to tell editorial staffers which photos could be used, and for what purposes. It also allowed creators the ability to license their photos professionally via Getty Images and get paid, though the specific deal with Getty was discontinued back in March of this year.

Now, though, the list of places that you can sell the images you take on your iPhone to is even larger.

Apple’s iRadio Agreement With Universal Music Will Be Soon, Warner Music May Be Next

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Let's hope it's not really called iRadio.
Here's hoping it's not really called iRadio.

Apple may be signing its first licensing deal with Universal Music Group (UMG) as soon as next week, according to several sources with knowledge of the matter, says The Verge. UMG and Apple are in the final stages of negotiations, and Warner Music is close behind, say those sources. All Apple needs now to complete the licensing for what the media has dubbed iRadio is an agreement with Sony Music Entertainment and other music publishers.

Apple is widely expected to launch a streaming music service later this year, perhaps this summer, with features similar to Pandora, assuming it can get all the licensing squared away for such a service.

HTC: Licensing Deal With Apple Will Make Our Products Better

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HTC China president Ray Yam believes the Taiwanese company’s new licensing deal with Apple will allow it to “take broader steps” and create better products this year. The Droid DNA maker recently entered into a 10-year licensing agreement with Apple that covers all current, pending, and future patents, and ended the litigation ongoing between the two companies.

Apple Sued For Allegedly Infringing Media Playback Patent That It Half-Heartedly Tried To License

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Photo: Apple
Apple finds itself involved in yet another patent lawsuit.

Apple has been named in a California lawsuit filed by EPL Holdings for allegedly infringing a patent that covers audio and video playback at varying speeds. The filing reports that EPL met with Apple back 2002 to discuss  licensing over the patents it had developed. But the Cupertino company is alleged to have used the technology anyway without reaching a licensing deal.

Microsoft Makes Mountain Lion Server Very Attractive By Gouging Small Businesses With Windows Server 2012 Licensing

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Microsoft's small business server will go up against Mountain Lion Server at 10X the cost and with artificial limits on it.
Microsoft's small business server will go up against Mountain Lion Server at 10X the cost and with artificial limits on it.

Now that Microsoft has unveiled the pricing and licensing models for Windows Server 2012, it’s easy to see why Apple’s focus on the small business market has been a genius move. Apple has been positioning its server platform as a small business solution for a while and Mountain Lion Server is the premier example of this focus.

Mountain Lion Server provides all the core needs for a small or mid-size firm – file sharing, email and messaging, shared contacts and calendars, and collaborative tools – for both Mac and Windows users. It also provides Mac deployment and update services as well as Mac and iOS device management capabilities. All of that is insanely affordable at just $31.98 ($19.99 to buy Mountain Lion, if needed, and then $19.99 for Mountain Lion Server).

By contrast, Microsoft’s so-called streamlining licensing for Windows Server 2012 lists a Windows Server Essentials Edition, which is the new equivalent of Windows Small Business Server, as starting at $425 with serious limitations.

Apple Brings The App Store To Another 32 Countries Across Africa, Asia & Europe

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App-Store-25-billion
The App Store extends its reach across Africa, Asia, and Europe.

With the incredible success of the App Store, sometimes it’s easy to forgot that there are still many, many countries the world over that don’t have access to it yet. That number has been reduced today, however, as Apple brings its mobile marketplace to another 32 countries, bringing the total number of countries with access to the App Store to 155.

At $19.99 Mountain Lion Server Promises To Be A Great Bargain

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Apple's pricing for Mountain Lion Server is a great bargain for small businesses
Apple's pricing for Mountain Lion Server is a great bargain for small businesses.

OS X Server has always been something of a bargain compared to the various flavors of Windows Server. Unlike Microsoft, Apple never focused on a client access licensing model in which organizations must pay for the server software itself plus additional licenses for users or devices that connect to it. Apple also doesn’t break OS X Server down into multiple variations each with its own features, licensing needs, and upgrade limitations.

When you buy OS X Server, Apple gives you everything from file sharing to Internet and collaborative services like wikis and internal messaging through Mac and iOS device management. If you start as a small business with a single basic server and eventually grow to the point where you need to support and manage dozens or hundreds of Macs, PCs, and mobile devices, there are no limits imposed on licensing or data migration.

You Can’t Legally Join A Class-Action Lawsuit Against Microsoft, But You Can Against Apple (For Now)

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iphone throttling lawsuit
Microsoft plans to use license agreements to prevent class action lawsuits

 

Microsoft is a company known for creating strict, labyrinthine, costly terms in its commercial and end-user licensing. With Windows 8 seen as a make-or-break product for Microsoft, the company has already been adding licensing terms intended to strengthen its hand in the mobile market. As we reported earlier this year, Microsoft’s enterprise licensing for Windows 8 has provisions to coerce businesses into buying ARM-based Windows RT tablets while punishing those that deploy iPads with more costly terms.

Ratcheting things up a notch, Microsoft’s general counsel Tim Fielden announced new details about the company’s end-user license agreements. Although not mentioning specific products or services, Fielden posted on a Microsoft blog that many new agreements will prohibit users from initiating a class action lawsuit against the company.

To Push Windows Tablets, Microsoft Makes Supporting iPads More Expensive

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Microsoft changes Windows licensing rules to spur Windows RT tablet sales
Microsoft changes Windows licensing rules to spur Windows RT tablet sales

Microsoft is using its home field advantage in the business market to alter the playing field between its upcoming low cost Windows RT tablets (formerly called Windows on ARM or WOA tablets) and the iPad. To date, the iPad has been the business and enterprise tablet of choice and that gives Apple a significant leg up over competing Windows RT tablets.

Aiming to neutralize that advantage, Microsoft has written Windows 8 licensing for enterprise organizations in a way that makes supporting the iPad and other non-Microsoft devices more expensive – essentially penalizing companies that opt for the iPad and want to use a virtual desktop (VDI) solution such as those from Citrix and VMWare for remote access to a Windows desktop.

You Can Now Legally Run Windows On Your iPad Through OnLive

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OnLive Desktop goes from Windows 7 to Windows Server iPad/Android app
OnLive Desktop goes from Windows 7 to Windows Server iPad/Android app

We reported last month on the legal and licensing issues surrounding OnLive and its OnLive Desktop for iPad, a freemium offering from the cloud gaming company that offered iPad users a full Windows 7 desktop experience complete with Office and the ability to watch Flash content. The company made a big entrance into the Windows/Office on iPad space in January and announced its premium and business plans the following month.

More recently, however, Microsoft announced that OnLive was violating its licensing agreements. Microsoft even went so far as to accuse OnLive and any OnLive Desktop users of illegally pirating Windows 7.

OnLive appears to have learned the error of its ways. Over the weekend, the company quietly adjusted its service to be compatible with Windows licensing.

Nokia: Apple’s Royalty-Free Nano-SIM Licensing Is Just An Attempt To Devalue Rivals’ IP

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Despite the promise of royalty-free licensing, Nokia is still against Apple's nano-SIM proposal.
Despite the promise of royalty-free licensing, Nokia is still against Apple's nano-SIM proposal.

Despite promising that it would provide its rivals with royalty-free licenses for its nano-SIM technology, Nokia still isn’t convinced by Apple’s proposal for the next-generation of miniaturized SIM cards. The Finnish company has already spoken out against the tiny SIM, but following Apple’s offer of free licensing yesterday, it has labelled the plan nothing more than an attempt to devalue the intellectual property of its rivals.

Apple Promises To Make Nano-SIM Licensing Free If Rivals Agree To Its Proposal

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Apple believes that even the micro-SIM is too big for the iPhone.
Apple has agreed to give rival smartphone makers free licensing if its nano-SIM standard is adopted.

It was revealed last week that Apple is pushing to make its new nano-SIM the next industry standard for miniaturized SIM cards. The company has the backing of most European mobile operators, but rival smartphone vendors — particularly Motorola, RIM, and Nokia — are against the idea.

In a bid to win them over, Apple has promised that it will make nano-SIM licensing free if its proposal is approved.

Why The Emotional Criticism Of iBooks Author Is Wrong

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A smattering of journalist authors are freaking out over Apple’s license agreement for the free new iBooks Author tool.

ZDnet’s Ed Bott called the license agreement “greedy and evil.” PCmag.com’s Sascha Segan wrote: “Like iBooks Author? Apple now owns you.” Even Daring Fireball’s John Gruber called it “Apple at its worst.”

Et tu, Gruber?

What’s strange about these emotional responses to Apple’s legalese is that they fail the reality test. Apple’s iBooks Author terms are neither greedy nor evil; they don’t mean Apple’s “owns you;” and it’s certainly not the worst thing Apple has ever done.

Here. I’ll prove it.