Well, to be fair, if the original developers created the patent and then decided to take it commercial, they're the ultimately the ones screwing everyone.
It would be unreasonable for Escient/Gracenote not to protect something (the patent) they paid for.
What is slimey is for the original patent holders, Ti Kan and Steven Scherf to create this neat internet tool and say "hey, here's a free service that you can use grow into a incredibly useful tool" but didn't bother to say "(oh yeah -- we patented it so we can steal it right out from under you once you make it valuable)".
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It would be unreasonable for Escient/Gracenote not to protect something (the patent) they paid for.
What is slimey is for the original patent holders, Ti Kan and Steven Scherf to create this neat internet tool and say "hey, here's a free service that you can use grow into a incredibly useful tool" but didn't bother to say "(oh yeah -- we patented it so we can steal it right out from under you once you make it valuable)".