REDMOND, WA — In precisely the kind of power move that Microsoft critics don’t even need to dream about because it’s true, the software giant has applied for separate patents concerning RSS technology during the past 18 months — about the same number of legendary number of months until a computer was once believed to become obsolete. Had the company ever done anything regarding RSS technology other than release Internet Explorer 7 with RSS support, the news might be less shocking.Dave Winer, the self-proclaimed inventor of the Really Simple Syndication web feed format was not the least of the surprised. On his December 21st, 2006 winter solstice blog update, Winer expreses his disapproval of both Microsoft’s application and the company’s alleged claim to have invented RSS, sharing that he fears “they’re eventually going to charge us to use it.”

According to Winer, “This should be condemned by everyone who has contributed anything to the success of RSS.”

Who exactly “everyone” is, of course, is in dispute, as is often the case when a conceptual and collaborative property bursts into usable — even potentially fiscal — reality. The fact that Microsoft did not invent the format, however, is not in question. Why it would file a patent, on the other hand, is the stuff of online gossip and speculation. Some pundits speculate that the patents, which Microsoft is staying predictably hush-hush about, are actually focused on RSS within Vista/IE7 and may be protective, given that the company has lost patent battles on code that it did originate when others filed intrusively generic patents.

Eweek.com calls Microsoft a “major patent target” and says that the company is currently battling “between 30 and 35 ongoing patent cases that cover everything from the automatic starting of an application in Windows to the sending of Web alerts.” This state of affairs may have led the mega corp to file the RSS patents in hopes of keeping potential rivals at bay.

For more information about RSS, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Really_Simple_Syndication