TCS Issued Patent for Sending Text Messages to Web Servers
,----[ Quote ]
| U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued patent number 7,355,990
| for "Mobile-Originated to HTTP Internet Communications." The patent describes
| a means for triggering an Internet informational query or search using a
| simple text message originated from a cell phone or mobile device, and is
| widely used today for two-way premium messaging services.
`----
http://www.wirelessdevnet.com/news/2008/apr/23/news4.html
The patent system is about to collapse.
850,000 lawsuits in the making
,----[ Quote ]
| WESTERN firms are always complaining about the theft of intellectual property
| in China. From knock-off designs to copycat brand names, pirated music and
| fake drugs, China has a well-earned reputation as a free-for-all when it
| comes to patents and copyrights. Worse, there often seems little hope of
| redress: the courts are too distant and too incompetent; the laws are too
| weak or too vague; the culture is too resistant to the very idea of
| intellectual property. Yet help is at hand, in the form of Chinese firms with
| patents to defend.
|
| Since 2003 the number of trademark applications has grown by 60%; the number
| of patents has nearly doubled (850,000 are now active) and the number of
| lawsuits about intellectual property has more than doubled (see chart). The
| government is encouraging the trend in many ways, including signalling to the
| press to cheer it on.
|
| [...]
|
| Unsurprisingly, the main beneficiaries of the sudden interest in intellectual
| property are Chinese lawyers. Some reportedly earn more than $5m a year.
| Non-Chinese law firms sometimes provide advice on thorny cases. But they are
| not allowed to file patents or appear in court on behalf of a client—a
| proprietary process that Chinese lawyers are keen to defend.
`----
http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11023270&CFID=3491753&CFTOKEN=68633202
Recent:
My Dumb Software Patents
,----[ Quote ]
| The first patent was provisionally filed in 2000 and has been "in process"
| for the last 8 years. Yes, I said 8 years. Many think that Software Patents
| are stupid. I conceptually agree with this statement. Having spent what seems
| like millions of hours constructing these, baby sitting them, defending them;
| it is really all wasted time and effort, at least in a conceptual sense.
| There is no way for a software engineer or system architect to have any idea
| what exists out there to either copy or avoid (whatever the motivation).
`----
http://falseprecision.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/02/my-dumb-softwar.html
Related:
Microsoft, the art of Corporate Terrorism.
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft, no longer the technological leader in the Computer Desktop
| market, is taking on a terrorist role in its attempt remain in power
| at all costs. (see the link to the CNN story below)
|
| The tactic is intended to frighten current, and would be, free
| software users away from products that Microsoft just can't compete
| with. It's not a new tactic, but for the first time desperation is
| beginning to show.
`----
http://sweetcomputing.com/index.php?wiki=Microsoft_Terrorism
Convicted Monopolist Terrorizes Software Industry
,----[ Quote ]
| That headline is designed to grab your attention. Sensationalistic as
| it may be, it also happens to be true, if what you mean by 'terrorize'
| is to provoke fear.
|
| If you've been following the presidential race in the United States,
| you know the present crop of candidates have been exploiting the fear
| of the American people as they never have before in the history of
| the country.
`----
http://www.linux.org/news/opinion/ms_threats.html
|
|
