[thelist] Patents screw plug-ins

[Dougal Campbell]

On Fri, 12 Sep 2003, bruce wrote:

> [....]
> ps. for laughs...check out the patent issues/fights that are slowly starting
> with streaming audio/video.. acacia research..(sp?) they're going after the
> adult industry, claiming that streaming of content infringes on their
> patents...

Except that Acacia isn't limiting it to the adult industry anymore
(probably because they're fighting back in court). They've been going
after small colleges which use audio and video for online classes. I
think that their strategy is to go after businesses that are too small
to fight back, figuring that it's cheaper for them to roll over and pay
the licensing fees than it is to fight it in court.

I'm pretty sure that somebody will be able to dig up some prior-art to
get their patent claims invalidated, though. Read more about it at:
  http://fightthispatent.com/

-- 
Ernest MacDougal Campbell III, MCP+I, MCSE <dougal at gunters.org>
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