Reuters: Now Known as the Media Relations Department of Microsoft

Reuters is now apparently running Microsoft press releases as news articles, or might as well be. Check out splendid piece on Steve Ballmer’s speech warning of the dangers that Linux poses to Asian governments:
Microsoft Corp warned Asian governments on Thursday they could face patent lawsuits for using the Linux operating system instead of its Windows software…
Linux violates more than 228 patents, according to a recent report from a research group, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said at the company’s Asian Government Leaders Forum in Singapore.
“Someday, for all countries that are entering the WTO (World Trade Organization), somebody will come and look for money owing to the rights for that intellectual property,” he added.
The article then presents evidence backing up Ballmer’s claim on 228 patent infringements.
Well, no, actually it doesn’t.
But it does provide a link to the “recent report from a research group”.
Er, actually not. Doesn’t even give the title or name the source: sorry!
But it does quote from opposing experts who provide a counterweight to Ballmer’s scary claim.
Well, I’m sure that the reporter was thinking about doing that. But, deadlines, and there’s only so much you can put in one article, y’know?
I’m blessedly ignorant on the allegations of copyright infringement against Linux — I freely admit to having absolutely no clue whether they have merit or not. But I’m fairly certain that quite a lot of folks don’t agree with Mr. Ballmer’s position. Would it have really have been that much bother for Reuters to stick a teensy weensy bit of actual reporting and/or opposing viewpoints into this story?
PS: I’m fairly sure that the “recent report from a research group” being referred to is Mitigating Linux Patent Risk (PDF), published by Open Source Risk Management, a company which plans to sell patent litigation insurance to Linux users. It took me one minute and 58 seconds of research to find the paper online. I timed it.