IBM patented LZW and then Unisys got a patent on the same exact algorithm. Even non-patented ideas count as prior art, but for the USPTO to overlook its own patent as prior art was _very_ bad
A lawyer may not want to take too many bad cases even if it makes him or her money in the short run. Doesn't look too good to prospective clients if you lose over half your cases in court. They do want to keep their "stats" respectable.
Sec. 117. Limitations on exclusive rights: Computer programs
(a) Making of Additional Copy or Adaptation by Owner of Copy. - Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106, it is not an infringement for the owner of a copy of a computer program to make or authorize the making of another copy or adaptation of that computer program provided:
(1) that such a new copy or adaptation is created as an essential step in the utilization of the computer program in conjunction with a machine and that it is used in no other manner, or
(2) that such new copy or adaptation is for archival purposes only and that all archival copies are destroyed in the event that continued possession of the computer program should cease to be rightful.
Does 17 USC 117 (a)(1) not mean what it says? if a copy is necessary for the item to be used then it is allowed. The section is entitled Limitations on exclusive rights: Computer Programs.
I would hope that courts would not ignore this part of the law. The making of a copy without a license would be infringement under section 106, but section 117 overrides it explicitly. I am not a lawyer, but I think common sense would tend to argue for this interpretation.
Well it lacks a Netscape plugin and that is a critical omission. Many (perhaps most) of the streaming Real Audio internet radio stations/music sites (e.g. Web Radio) use horrendous JavaScript player autodetection and embed the link to the stream in a way that requires use of the plugin. I have Real Audio G2 for Linux set up. I click on a link to Real Audio content and it works... But when I go to many of those Internet radio stations I get empty windows or windows saying I need Real Audio and no sound whatsoever.
Well you can elect to receive statuatory damages in the amount of anywhere $200 to $100,000 depending on willfulness of the offense, etc. See 17 USC 504. Also see the rest of 17 USC Chap 5. You can recover attorney's fees, get their stuff impounded, confiscated, subject to remedial modification and/or destroyed. And you can get injunctions filed against them. The proprietary camp uses all of this against us. We should go on the attack and use it against them. It would be great to see Open Source as the plaintiff once, instead of as a defendant. You can read the US CODE at http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/
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IBM patented LZW and then Unisys got a patent on the same exact algorithm. Even non-patented ideas count as prior art, but for the USPTO to overlook its own patent as prior art was _very_ bad
A lawyer may not want to take too many bad cases even if it makes him or her money in the short run. Doesn't look too good to prospective clients if you lose over half your cases in court. They do want to keep their "stats" respectable.
17 USC 117 (a):
Sec. 117. Limitations on exclusive rights: Computer programs
(a) Making of Additional Copy or Adaptation by Owner of Copy. - Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106, it is not an infringement for the owner of a copy of a computer program to make or authorize the making of another copy or adaptation of that computer program provided:
(1) that such a new copy or adaptation is created as an essential step in the utilization of the computer program in conjunction with a machine and that it is used in no other manner, or
(2) that such new copy or adaptation is for archival purposes only and that all archival copies are destroyed in the event that continued possession of the computer program should cease to be rightful.
Does 17 USC 117 (a)(1) not mean what it says? if a copy is necessary for the item to be used then it is allowed. The section is entitled Limitations on exclusive rights: Computer Programs.
I would hope that courts would not ignore this part of the law. The making of a copy without a license would be infringement under section 106, but section 117 overrides it explicitly. I am not a lawyer, but I think common sense would tend to argue for this interpretation.
Well it lacks a Netscape plugin and that is a critical omission. Many (perhaps most) of the streaming Real Audio internet radio stations/music sites (e.g. Web Radio) use horrendous JavaScript player autodetection and embed the link to the stream in a way that requires use of the plugin. I have Real Audio G2 for Linux set up. I click on a link to Real Audio content and it works... But when I go to many of those Internet radio stations I get empty windows or windows saying I need Real Audio and no sound whatsoever.
Could a Sorenson compatible codec be written from scratch, either using specs or reverse-engineered information?
Well you can elect to receive statuatory damages in the amount of anywhere $200 to $100,000 depending on willfulness of the offense, etc. See 17 USC 504. Also see the rest of 17 USC Chap 5. You can recover attorney's fees, get their stuff impounded, confiscated, subject to remedial modification and/or destroyed. And you can get injunctions filed against them. The proprietary camp uses all of this against us. We should go on the attack and use it against them. It would be great to see Open Source as the plaintiff once, instead of as a defendant. You can read the US CODE at http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/
E-mail the FTC at antitrust@ftc.gov and ask them to not allow this anti-competitive merger.