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WebSense Patents Censorware System

Posted by timothy on from the ones-and-zeros dept.

Matthew Skala writes "As reported in SiliconValley.internet.com, filtering-software vendor Websense has received US Patent 6,606,659 on a "System and method for controlling access to internet sites". The new features in the patented system seem to revolve around using time limits instead of filtering sites out entirely; offering users a choice of viewing a site and having it logged, or not viewing it; and a scheme for automatically categorizing sites that looks very much like the "Bayesian filters" we've heard so much about in recent weeks. You may be interested in the filtering company's press release about their patent, or my own view."

2 of 179 comments (clear)

  1. Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't want to use a censorware application anyway. Hopefully they price things high so that other people won't use them, an in particular, so that the government won't use them (in libraries, etc).

  2. Not the first time they've done this! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful
    They have lots of trivial patents. I've personally come across one of their patents when developing CPU-usage limiting software for terminal server environments. (Hence the anonymous post, I'm trying to avoid legal action)

    The patent is GB2366891. The crux of it is that programs that use more than a certain percentage of the CPU (eg: 50%) are incrementally slowed down by quickly pausing/unpausing their threads at short intervals until their CPU usage is reduced below the threshold.

    How does this qualify for a patent? It's self evident! Things like this have been done in real time control systems (software and physical) for decades. It is nothing more than a high-frequency 1-bit DAC controller. Just because instead of controlling chemical reaction rates, the system is used for controlling processor usage, suddenly this method is worthy of a patent? Take a look at one of their diagrams. Is that the standard for new and inventive developments in the software industry? A flow chart with four, count them, four steps?

    The patent system needs an overhaul, and fast.