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FTC Dismisses Complaint Against Rambus
swordboy writes "A federal judge just threw out the FTC lawsuit against Rambus. This has been discussed at length here before but this changes the landscape yet again. An interesting, possibly coincidental item is that Intel just today announced a new and very powerful DRAM interface that bypasses Rambus IP altogether."
Now, the question is, does this offer the same price-point as DDR?
:)
I mean, DDR-II has a significant price-premium over current DDR, but if it doesn't....
Woo. It might be worth going Intel for once
Intel just today announced a new and very powerful DRAM interface that bypasses Rambus IP altogether.
Unfortunately, most court disputes between hi-tech companies finish long after the technologies in question are dead. Just look at Lineo/Canopy : when they won the DRDOS settlement against Microsoft, Windows 95 and DOS were already just a painful reminder of the past.
So yes, perhaps it has something to do with the fact that Intel can do without the Rambus IP. However, I doubt it's the real reason, because even when the disputed technologies are obsolete when the court reaches its verdict (or the parties settle), the money from damages or settlement is very real.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
Within 5 years, I predict that most machines will use RAM memory for all system storage. A backup power system will be required, but system speeds will go through the roof due to faster data access times.
Hard drives fail and are slow as hell. They are the bottlenecks in 99% of today's systems. That will change soon, thanks in part to Intel and AMD.
Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate. Ex-O'Reilly/MIT employee, now a full-time Google employee.
Rambus story shows that, in US, anything is possible in courts, even if you screw people, even if you do nasty things, outrageously lie, etc... at the end you may get awarded in court.
That's why making fun of SCO doesn't make me laugh much, because there is a possibility that they can get what they want in the courts.
I can't possibly imagine how you could have followed this case and come to that conclusion unless you've had blinders on and are deep into Rambus stock. Rambus deserves the title "Litigous Bastards" almost as much as SCO.
-dameron
That said I think it is unsuprizing that Intel and the manufacturers would look somewhere else for the next generation of RAM technologies. They'd be foolish to deal with a companay that had tricked them before.
Actually it's more like RAMBUS has *been* dead ever since DDR / DDR2 became competitive in terms of prices.
I think you mean RDRAM is dead. RAMBUS, the company, is still very much alive thanks to this ruling, which allows them to extort royalties for SDRAM.
Shouldn't the subject read "FTC Complaint Against Rambus Dismmissed" instead of "FTC Dismisses Complaint Against Rambus". The title as it currently reads almost made me think the FTC wasn't all that bad. Then I read the body. Oh well, back to hating the FTC.
Wasn't Intel part and parcel of the rambus problem? IIRC they owned a major stake of the company which was deeded to them so they would SUPPORT Rambus technologies so Rambus could extort people? Wasn't it only after consumers collectively said "Fuck that shit" that Intel stopped producing Rambus motherboards?
Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley
I believe that consumers collectively said "You want me to pay what for what??"
The RDRAM modules were sky high expensive and the Intel mobos weren't cheap either. Until the cheaper DDR modules came along there simply wasn't an affordable fast memory design on the market.
I for one will pay a small premium to get 1 larger stick instead of 2 smaller ones. That way I can upgrade without chucking my original ram.
Something glossed over by the article (and Rambus), but very important, is that this isn't anything even remotely like the end of the FTC investigation into this.
"Today's ruling came after a three-month evidentiary hearing and is subject to potential further review by the full Commission and review by a United States Court of Appeal."
and
"The Judge's initial decision is subject to review by the full Commission, either on its own motion or at the request of either party."
Basically one judge threw out the preliminary suit brought by a small commitee of the FTC. The case will now almost certainly go before the full FTC and, unlike an appeals process, this will involve a complete reexamination of the body of evidence. Essentially there will be a second, independent judgement by the FTC again on this matter, with potentially (and hopefully) differing results.
What? Everyone who's invited to participate in JEDEC is there so their technology can be "taken". Taken, that is, and put into an industry wide standard for all to use! If you're suggesting that RAMBUS reps at JEDEC didn't know that they were developing a standard at the meetings and were "tricked" into letting their as-yet-unapproved patent for memory into the standard, then you're an idiot.
If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.