[XDA Developer TV] azrienoch:
Hey monkeychef,

You say Android manufacturers aren't really competing against each other, but focus on Apple. That's true only to an extent. When looking to create a new phone, they ask what's popular, what will sell, and they obviously see Android. There are other factors, like what sort of money they'll make from pre-installed apps, and how their decision aligns them (which is, for the most part, the reason WP7 devices are made at all).

But that's the extent. If WP7 was in Android's place, that's what they'd put on their phones. There's no commitment to Android otherwise. They are in the same position as computer manufacturers. Sure, there's Apple, but the competition is against other Windows computer manufacturers. The difference with the mobile computing market is that Apple sells more phones than any other company, as you said. However, that's true only as of Q2 of 2011. Nokia held that spot before.

On top of that, Android manufacturers are looking purely at the numbers. Android is not their baby. It's their "in" with the market. Once they're in that market, its all about who makes the most money. They most certainly do consider each other competitors. For proof, answer this: What's the Open Handset Alliance up to these days?

But honestly, I think that's beside the point. The point is about whether it's advantageous for companies to put defensive patent portfolios in the public domain. FOSSpatents told me about just such a license UC Berkeley is developing called the Defensive Patent License.

The idea is this: some companies sue other companies for patent infringement. Some companies don't, but they still develop a patent portfolio to defend themselves against the other companies. The second kind of company doesn't believe in stopping competition. They believe in their product so much that they arent scared by a very similar product on the market. The reason the second kind of company may want to use the DPL is so they can pool their defensive patent portfolios with other companies. More patents available to you for less money. Win-win.

Motorola, for the most part, was a company of the second kind. Until they announced plans to sue other Android manufacturers. They're thinking like Apple and Microsoft: if you can't beat them, take their money. What makes them different than Microsoft and Apple--what makes this a unique case--is that it's over Android, an open source platform.

If this was over WP7 phones it'd be different, because everyone is paying Microsoft's licensing fees and sits under the protective shade of Microsoft's enormous patent portfolio. Microsoft does this for manufacturers because they have a vested interest in WP7's success. Android doesn't have that in Google. Its success is based almost entirely on market forces. What little effort Google puts in to seeing its success is pretty much null anyway, since their patent portfolio is too small to help defend manufacturers.

That's where the DPL comes in. An open source operating system needs open source patents to defend manufacturers. Android has very little of that. This change in Motorola's strategy is scary because it takes advantage of that weakness. The sad part is, if anyone could could plug that hole, that exposed weakness, it's Motorola. Hence my video begging Motorola, and arguing why it should adopt this strategy.

Jeff