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IP-Based Location Determination Patented

Posted by timothy on from the get-up-get-get-get-down dept.

little1973 writes "Digital Envoy recived patent 6,757,740 for determining, collecting and using geographic locations of Internet users. I didn't know a patent could be obtained for a simple traceroute and some lookups in a DB." The patent talks about a bit more than this (such as assigning confidence levels to bits of the looked-up information), but the long list of referenced previous patents reminds me of the saying "If you copy one person, it's plagiarism; if you copy a dozen, it's research."

1 of 36 comments (clear)

  1. Good. by base3 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Maybe this will inhibit entities violating the basic tenets of the Internet by refusing to serve based on location. And if it doesn't, at least I'll have the consolation that it's costing them.

    --
    One CPU cycle wasted on digital restrictions management is ONE TOO MANY.