God Bless Microsoft and Google - http://clapway.com/2015/11/16/god-bless-microsoft-and-google123/

Microsoft and Google: Skype and Hangouts Will Be Free of International Charges for A Few Days

Microsoft and Google have made Skype calls and Google Hangout calls free for the next few days to honor the Paris attacks and help loved ones connect through their services. Much like Facebook has implemented the safety check tool to assert that users are safe and alert their loved ones, Microsoft and Google are doing their part to ensure that everyone suffering in Paris, can connect with their loved ones and mourn together.

Microsoft and Google: Skype and Hangout Will Help People Stay in Touch

Skype declared in a blogpost that in light of the chaotic events in Paris, the company will do its best to help families, colleagues and friends stay in touch. They immediately put into effect to make all international and domestic calls to landlines and mobiles in France will be free of charge, probably through the three days French President Hollande declared days of mourning for the country.

On the other hand, Google+ made a blog post of their own, where they declared that all calls made to France via Hangouts will be free of international charges. Calls can be made from anywhere in the world, judging by their statement.

Like Facebook, Microsoft and Google Made no Moves for Beirut or Baghdad

Microsoft and Google haven’t made any announcements in regards to the November 13 attacks on Beirut or Baghdad, which Facebook took a few hits for. This could constitute as bias in regards to the standing of the company and the scale of the attacks, but since there hasn’t been any direct backlash or response from Microsoft and Google, it’s not clear if they received as much negative feedback as Facebook.

God Bless Microsoft and Google

Microsoft Beats Google in Appeals Case - http://clapway.com/2015/08/01/microsoft-beats-google-in-appeals-case123/

On Thursday, a federal appeals court decision was made in favor of Microsoft in a patent dispute case with Google over Motorola patents. This case was originally filed in 2010. This was a major setback for Google for the appeals court to rule that the low licensing rate Microsoft pays to use Google’s Motorola Mobility patents have been properly set. The court also upheld the $14.5 million that was awarded to Microsoft for Motorola’s breach of contract to license its patents in a fair manner.

THE MICROSOFT, MOTOROLA AND GOOGLE CASE ALL BEGAN WITH A LETTER

San Francisco’s Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals discovered that a lower judge had indeed acted appropriately when he took it upon himself to figure out what would be a fair price to use standard essential Motorola patents for Microsoft. The dispute began when a letter was sent from Motorola to Microsoft requesting that the company pay $4 billion per year in order to license patents related to the 802.11 standard, this underpins wifi, and the H.264 video encoding standard.

GOOGLE ACQUIRED MOTOROLA AND THEIR PATENTS IN 2012

Motorola took major issue with the decision because Microsoft was introduced to the lower court’s calculated patent licensing rate to the jury. Motorola argued that the introducing rate led to the jury ruling in favor of Microsoft.

Google acquired the Motorola patents as a part of its acquisition of Motorola, back in 2012 for $12.5 billion. However, the dispute between Microsoft and Google increased when Google sold Motorola to Lenovo. The lower court’s ruling was an unexpected decision by the judge to set parameter for licensing negotiations. However, after the appeals court decision came in favor of Microsoft, the decision was upheld.

APPEALS COURT UPHELD $14.5 MILLION AWARD TO MICROSOFT

The appeals court also upheld the jury’s decision to award $14.5 million to Microsoft in a trial related to this one. This case drew major interest from a variety of technology companies including Apple and Intel, who were in support of Microsoft, and Qualcomm and Nokia in support of Motorola.

The appeals court decision that was in favor of Microsoft might affect any future cases in patent licensing under similar terms.

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Microsoft Beats Google in Appeals Case