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Acacia Steps Up Content-Transfer Patent Claims
MarkRH writes "Over at ExtremeTech we've got an in-depth story on the 20-odd suits being filed against the online porn industry by Acacia Research Corp., which has been previously covered on Slashdot. Now, several online porn companies are forming an association called IMPA (the 'Internet Media Protective Association'). We sat in on conference calls held by the industry, and interviewed Acacia executives. Bottom line: the porn industry is just the beginning."
... Ironic to me at least. The MPAA claims that video over the net has to be locked up in a chastity belt in order to survive. Yet, the porn industry has been able to thrive even in a highly saturated market.
It'd suck if this caused a damaging blow to the porn industry. It's probably the best proof out there that the internet *is* a place where people can make money with content without having to use DRM.
--contact the big guys yourself. If these guys get an court settlement test cases in their favor, it's going to cost a lot of the big guys serious folding money to fight the case themselves. whereas-if you can convince them to help you fight your relatively small case NOW, they can potentially save BIG BUCKS later. That's the best idea I can think of right now. These guys are fishing, but they will start taking people to court, and bet a nickle that they have a tame judge's area picked out where to file in. That's just a logic train, in war, the dude who picks the battle and terrain and goes first has the upper hand right off the bat. I haven't looked at any of the patents yet though, so no idea if their claims have any merit, but potentially this is bigger than the e-commerce patent fights if what they say is true. Just think of real player and quicktime and windows media player stuff, it would appear that all of those efforts are in violation potentially. I mean, transmitting digital content on wires? Say whut? That's a very, very broad avenue for "the internet". You might have difficulty though seeing as how you have a porn site, could be none of the big guys would want to be seen publically as "in favor of" your ....uhhh... artistic efforts on the net. In that case, seek contributions from like minded webmasters and hosts from this "industry" that will be similarly affected. There's thousands of them, a few bucks apiece donated might be prudent.
I imagine all these parties have employees who read slashdot, so they will see this thread. good luck.
there seems to be something simply wrong with an alliance in the porn industry.....the Christian right is gonna have a fit. might make for some entertaining news...
Of course, the Christian right has some sites that also use streaming video (see the link titled "Watch the Program" from CBN).
Now, an alliance between the porn industry and CBN - that would be impressive...
It seems to me that the fruit higher up should see how this is going to go. If they don't hang together they will assuredly all hang separately.
Paul.
You are lost in a twisty maze of little standards, all different.
http://www.lectlaw.com/def/l056.htm
i um .nsf/articles/5731FF9F4372B6ED85256B43006EA07D?Ope nDocument
or better
http://www.zurichre-na.com/web/converium/conver
Esentially, if you knew about it in 91, you can't wait till now to go after royalties.
This might be one of those Vapor-Laws that money speaks louder than, however.
Everybody read those links, because these submarine patents are bullshit and the more noise the public makes about them, the less likely Acadia, Pan IP, and every other non-innovative lawyer on the planet are to think they can get aware with this bullshit.
"Old man yells at systemd"
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
This portfolio of patents make business patents like one click seem exact and concrete by comparison. Basically these guys talk about any digital video on demand which is an idea not an invention and certainly not something worthy of a patent, especially not as late as 1992. One interesting thing from a laymans POV is how they are very generic as to the specifics of implementation except in claim 23.
The distribution method as recited in claim 19, wherein the step of storing includes the step of storing the received information at the head end of a cable television reception system.
It seems to me this limits their patent to VOD systems for a cable company or in room service not distribution over a distributed network (or heck a network of any kind). I don't claim to be a patent expert but how can a patent this broad apply if all of the claims do not apply? I mean if individual claims can stand on their own then there are some broad quantum computer patents I need to file!
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
For a decade now we've heard free-market proselytes yap about how business will bring new innovations to the internet. But in practice what have we seen? The principal technologies in use are still those created largely academically and under research grants (some in partnership with very select members of the private sector, granted).
But principally what business has brought to the table is greed, squabbling and massively costly litigation, which far from encouraging innovation, increasingly inhibits it through fear and intimidation.
At the risk of overstating the case, I do think this is a further example of market forces alone being very far from the wholly benign influence they're so often touted as being.
"But actually suing people is a much more risky business plan. You can never be sure that the men and women on the jury are going to act in the best interest of your bottom line."
Ask Rambust. The little IP company that could (sue) went after everyone who wanted to produce DDR, and ended up with the judge in the case that was initiated BY THEM ruling them guilty of fraud...
Corporatism != Free Market
might be here ?
This is a message from 1989 talking about a talk by FCC chairman re: cable vs telco and what things might be possible.
For consumers, the promised land would be video on demand" - no need to rent tapes or wait for the network to schedule a particular program. One-way broadband delivery coupled with 2-way narrowband signalling thus might be the way such systems would start off.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
Exactly. Would such large lines be running all over the world if we didn't have lots of data to transmit? If it was just Email, and light web usage, T1's would still be the norm.. But adult content has always been a strong driving point. In the next couple weeks, we'll be putting our composite bandwidth graph up on our front page. We peak at between 800Mb/s and 1Gb/s daily.. The only other sites that do anything like that are warez and mp3 sites.. Of course, there are the isolated exception..
But, porn has completely pushed the Internet to what it is now. Just like getting VCR's and DVD players into the home.. DVD's were first seriously released for home viewing porn. Then places like Blockbuster started carrying movies on DVD..
People don't like talking about it, but it's the truth. And yes, you're absolutely right about PPV.. They were doing PPV movies for long before they started doing regular movies.. And still any cable provider's service includes adult movies.. They don't even have to advertise it, and people still spend lots of money on it..
I love this business. Meet hot women, work with the best technology.. I don't think working anywhere else I'd be ordering 1Gb/s fiber into cabinets all over the country. I wouldn't just say "Ok, 10 more servers for that site", and have them en-route in a couple days.. Voyeurweb.com is retiring some of our old servers, and putting new ones up this week. Yippie.
Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.