Feb
27
National Geographic and Tasini
Posted by Dirk Avery at 8:47 pm under Copyright, Litigation.
National Geographic has been attempting for nearly a decade to release a CD-ROM version of the magazine but has been thwarted by copyright issues. The freelance contributors claim that a digital version is a new work and would infringe their copyrights. NG, on the other hand, led by Ken Starr of Clinton-fame, argues […]
Feb
27
$1.3 billion fine for Microsoft
Posted by Dirk Avery at 10:02 am under Patent, Technology.
About a week after Microsoft pledged to be open with the formats used by its dominant products (discussed previously here, here and here) the EU has slapped the Redmond company with a $1.3 billion fine. The fine represents about 20% of Microsoft’s cash on hand ($6.1 billion). Apparently the EU was concerned about […]
Feb
27
LG continues collaboration push
Posted by Dirk Avery at 9:44 am under Patent, Wikinomics.
LG Electronics is a leader in collaborating with other companies partnering last week with the sixth largest US corporation, GE. Both companies are able to use the refrigerator and cooking appliance patents of the other without paying a royalty. Wikinomics authors Dan Tapscott and Anthony Williams contend that sharing intellectual property is one of four […]
Feb
26
Comcast hires seat-fillers at FCC
Posted by Dirk Avery at 5:53 pm under Internet.
This is hilarious. Comcast admits hiring disinterested people to fill spots at a public FCC hearing held at Harvard Law School. While Comcast spokeswoman Jennifer Khoury (pictured) admitted the company hired people to hold places in line for Comcast employees, Comcast opponents claim they also filled seats to prevent interested people from attending […]
Feb
26
Patent reform undermining innovation?
Posted by Dirk Avery at 2:36 pm under Incentive, Patent.
Joe Kiani, CEO of Masimo, wrote an interesting op-ed in Forbes yesterday on the potential effects of the Patent Reform Act of 2007 (S. 1145). He refers to the bill as “one of the worst assaults on intellectual property protection in the 218-year history of our patent system.” Points I found interesting:
[T]his bill […]
Feb
26
Kindle law books?
Posted by Dirk Avery at 12:48 pm under Internet, Technology.
As much as I love the muscles I’ve developed hauling around hundreds of pounds of law books, doesn’t it seem like we should have electronic law books? The Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance released a report in May 2007 on the high cost of textbooks. Of its many suggestions to lower costs […]
Feb
26
Open letter to Lessig on net neutrality
Posted by Dirk Avery at 10:28 am under Internet, Technology.
Dear Lawrence,
I’m sorry to hear that you will not be running for congress. We can always use smart people in DC that are champions of human progress.
Good luck in your new endeavor to change congress. I hope you’ll consider net neutrality a part of that effort. Lack of neutrality has the potential […]
Feb
26
Patent troll tracker outed
Posted by Dirk Avery at 8:51 am under Patent.
Director of intellectual property at Cisco, Rick Frenkel, is the author behind the Patent Troll Tracker (PTT) blog, reports the Wall Street Journal. A $10,000 bounty had been placed on his head, er, his identity. He claimed to be tired of being anonymous anyway. The real question is whether the tone of […]
Feb
25
Microsoft “Opens Up To Sharing”
Posted by Irene Soto at 1:06 pm under Technology.
Good news for consumers or open source money-maker?
Microsoft’s announcement overview is available here, and, as Alexander Wolfe points out, it isn’t available in an open format, but rather in Microsoft’s proprietary Office 2007 docx.
Feb
25
Patent updates
Posted by Dirk Avery at 12:10 pm under Litigation, Patent, Technology.
Microsoft’s promise to refrain from patent-infringement suits
Last week we wrote about Wariness over Microsoft’s openness. Today various stories reaffirm that concern. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer writes:
But [Microsoft’s] promise last week specifically excluded commercially distributed open-source software. Microsoft said commercial uses of its patented communications protocols would require licensing payments. That drew criticism from Michael […]