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TVI to Sue Over MS Autoplay Feature

Posted by timothy on from the mmm-overbroadness dept.

scubacuda links to this Infoworld article, which reads in part "TVI charges Microsoft's autoplay feature infringes on four of its U.S. patents. TV Interactive Data Corp. (TVI) of Los Gatos, California, claims that Microsoft infringes on four of its U.S. patents, three entitled 'host device equipped with means for starting a process in response to detecting insertion of a storage media' and one entitled 'method for starting up a process automatically on insertion of a storage media into a host device.", writing "I hope no one has a patent on the shift key, because that's what I hit when I insert a CD. (That is, when I haven't already edited the registry)" Wouldn't automount / autofs fall under the same shadow?

4 of 408 comments (clear)

  1. Why stop with M$? by Matey-O · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Mac has a 'detect on auto insert' for as long as it's had a floppy drive! (IIRC, the Amiga did too.)

    --
    "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus."
    1. Re:Why stop with M$? by R.Caley · · Score: 5, Informative
      They are claiming a specific way of aranging auto-run, so it may be that (one of) Windows methods infringes, but Apple's doesn't.

      5,597,307
      6,418,532

      Of course, it fails the obviousness test, but since the USPO has aparently interpereted this test to be `obvious to somoene who doesn't know what a computer is and has no problem solving ability at all'...

      --
      _O_
      .|<       The named which can be named is not the true named
  2. the patents are.... by bpland · · Score: 5, Informative

    The patent numbers are 5,597,307; 5,795,156; 6,249,863 and 6,418,532.

  3. Re:No kidding by bhtooefr · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually, Windows (and DOS) always assumes that a disk is inserted whenever the drive is mounted. It does check to be sure that it's the SAME disk, and it only does this on an access attempt. The only hardware that can autodetect mounting of a floppy disk is the Mac, and it's done it since 1984.

    Here are the dates on the patents:
    5,597,307: January 28, 1997 (filed May 11, 1995)
    5,795,156: August 18, 1998 (filed November 1, 1995)
    6,249,863: June 19, 2001 (filed May 3, 1999)
    6,418,532: July 9, 2002 (filed March 22, 2001)

    Also, here's the date on the Microsoft Autorun patent:
    6,366,966: April 2, 2002 (filed December 13, 1994)

    So, while three of the TVI patents are OLDER than the Autorun patent, the Autorun patent was filed six months earlier than the first TVI patent.