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Apple, Others Hit With Lawsuit On Ethernet Patents
bth nods an AppleInsider story on a patent troll who has gotten hold of fundamental Ethernet patents and is wielding them broadly. Three guesses which US Appeals Court the lawsuit was filed in. "A Texas company has targeted a number of technology companies, including Apple, in a new lawsuit regarding a handful of computer networking patents issued in the 1990s. ... 3Com Corporation was granted four patents from 1994 to 1998 pertaining to network adapters. Two deal with the automatic initiation of data transmission, and one addresses 'host indication optimization.' ... The company's Web site states that U.S. Ethernet Innovations was founded 'to continue 3Com Corporation's successful licensing program related to a portfolio of foundational patents in Ethernet technology.' A press release from the company states that it is the 'owner of the fundamental Ethernet technology developed and sold by 3Com Corporation in the 1990s,' suggesting it purchased the patents. ... In addition to Apple, the lawsuit names Acer, ASUS, Dell, Fujitsu, Gateway, Hewlett Packard, Sony, and Toshiba as defendants."
A jury in East Texas will be composed of at least 10 people who believe that the Earth is 6,000 years old and that Jesus rode to work on a brontosaurus.
Well, I see the hate-speech and bigotry against Christians is on display again. This is one of the easiest attacks to make, because Christians do not kill people who draw cartoons.
I personally do not believe in the concept of "hate speech", being a supporter of free speech, but I am always impressed by its use by the left who seem so obsessed with it.
Nobody claims that Jesus rode a dinosaur. Indeed, while there are a few who think that dinos and humans may have coexisted, I have encountered an atheist who had that particular belief and there are probably a few more like him, so I guess it would be okay to say that Darwin ran a T-rex ranch. It is also true that SOME Christians believe in a "young Earth", many believe in an "old Earth". Of those who DO believe in a "young Earth", most believe the system was created with an apparent age and everything functioning (fully grown plants and animals, the light photons from stars already in transit, geologic layers, fossils, etc.) You may certainly reject their argument, but if it is true then there is simply never going to be a way to prove or disprove it. If they are correct, then they are not as nutty as you imply and indeed their confused critics are the presumably gullible ones who should be feared on a jury.
Since neither science nor religion will ever truly solve that question, I prefer that we all settle for the jury qualifications our founders gave us: a group of one's peers (in the traditional sense of the word) who are mentally sound (though perhaps not philosophically sound, or well acquainted with the issues). The results are not always great, but they are as fair as we can get. If the people who understand technology-related issues are unhappy with the results produced by their fellow citizens on juries, then they should look in the mirror and ask themselves the following question: what could I do better to help my friends and neighbors better understand these issues? If the lawyers on the side of the issues we support are losing, then we should ask ourselves and them to think about why they are failing so badly in the task of explaining their cases to the juries. No jury can be expected to know all about the subject of a court case; our system of justice relies upon competent advocates providing good information to juries, which is one of the reasons we have lawyers in the court.
Before the United States was founded, one of its founders, John Adams, took the case of some British soldiers who had shot some American colonists before a jury of American colonials. Every one of the colonials on that jury, if asked, would likely have been a "young Earth" type of Christian (and not even the type who believe in an apparent age) who you would have denounced as a fool and they likely all had reasons to hate the British soldiers... but Adams won the case.