Microsoft patenting RSS? Not quite.
A couple of days ago News.com published an article stating that Microsoft was trying to patent the phenomenon 'RSS-feed', to quote them:
Microsoft has filed for two patents covering technology used to organize and read syndicated Web feeds, such as those delivered via the widely used Really Simple Syndication, or RSS, family of formats.
In addition to that they also connected a couple of results to it, or at least their vision on it.
If granted, one proposed patent would cover “finding and consuming Web subscriptions in a Web browser.” The invention, for example, could allow a user to “subscribe to a particular Web feed, be provided with a user interface that contains distinct indicia to identify new feeds, and…efficiently consume or read RSS feeds using both an RSS reader and a Web browser.”
A related application, titled “content syndication platform,” appears to describe a system that can break down feeds into a format that can be accessed and managed by many different types of applications and users.
This is not the first time a company has attempted to patent a means of Web syndication. Last year, an application surfaced for a patent sought by Google that would cover delivery of advertisements via syndicated news feeds.
This indeed seems to be quite scary and even dangerous; the mean and lean Microsoft is trying to take over the web! Actually, the opposide is true according to their MSDN weblog , where the lead RSS programmer of Microsoft, Sean Lyndersay, states the opposide, he claims that Microsoft is trying to actually protect the RSS feeds as well as the community around it.
First, these patents describe specific ways to improve the RSS end-user and developer experience (which we believe are valuable and innovative contributions) — they do not constitute a claim that Microsoft invented RSS.
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Finally, as a number of commenters have noted, we are far from the only company to apply for patent protection in this space. Other companies, including Apple and Google, have apparently also applied for patents. Applying for a patent on your innovation is common industry practice, and one which, by incenting and protecting the companies and people involved, encourages everyone to contribute to the community.
I hope this helps put our position in perspective. I want to reiterate that my team and I are fully committed to RSS and feed syndication technologies in general and to the community. Please post any additional questions (I'm sure you didn't need an invitation
, and I'll get back to them in the new year.
I think the truth will be somewhere in between, Microsoft is trying not to be too late for the Web 2.0 bubble, while on the other hand they also want to make sure no other company is faster than they are, and could possibly prevent Microsoft from showing us their 'Opensource friendly'-look again. Only time will show us the outcome 
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