I agree. An idea is non-obvious only if you were the only one to ever think of it. If 50 other people came up with the same idea before you did (like putting your pants on one leg at a time), it's obviously obvious.
There are outfits on this sorry planet who have had the brass to patent the human genome (no joke). I wonder, how long before they start suing every human on earth for infringing their patent?
BTW--I thought naturally occurring things were by law not patentable. How did they get by with this?
No, the US lost industry because unions wanted too much money and management didn't want to pay, so they moved all their operations overseas or outsourced everything.
Taking the war against consumers up a notch only ensures that they're even less interested in giving any money to the entertainment industry.
Well said. Though I have never engaged in illegal downloading I have determined I will never buy anything with an RIAA label on it. Not just because of their war on file sharers (including the dead and people with no computers at all) but because most of their music is just plain garbage. I have even written emails to them suggesting they could make a mint licensing filesharing, but apparently they are too set in their ways to consider the obvious.
This sounds a lot like Monster Cable's tactics some years ago. At that time they were suing anyone and everyone who used the word "monster" in any kind of commercial context for infringing their trademark. From mom-and-pop clothing stores to Walt Disney, any business with "monster" in its name was a potential target. Disney was sued over the title of its movie, "Monsters Inc."
Hopefully they've abandoned that, but I'm not for sure if they have.
I tried a while back to purchase a used copy of Wall-E on DVD at a local video rental store, and they told me Disney did not allow them to sell used Disney DVDs.
Ever heard of Monster Cable? For years they went around suing everybody and his dog for using the word "monster" in any commercial context. So I have read, they even sued Disney for using the word in the title of their movie, "Monsters, Inc."
In a similar case a US shoe manufacturer trademarked the word "Ugg" as in ugg boots, then turned around and sued a bunch of Aussie shoemakers who had been using the word in a generic sense for some thirty years before the US co. grabbed it, for the inside-out sheepskin boots they had been making all that time.
Microsoft sued Lindows for using a word that resembled "Windows", the name of their operating system, then backed down and paid Lindows a big bunch of money when they realized the court might invalidate their "Windows" TM.
If I recall correctly, you cannot legally make a trademark of a commonly used word. But people do it anyway and get by with it. So I guess "Frugalista" is just another case of the same.
If you come up on an intersection with a red light cam and a short amber, and the light catches you 30 feet from the intersection and you lay rubber right up to the stop line, then the guy behind you rams you into the intersection, who gets the ticket?
You think that is absurd?
How about technology that will monitor how you use your devices and will charge you accordingly?
For that very reason I try as much as possible to listen only to public domain music. I have a sizeable collection of Edison cylinder record MP3s downloaded from UCSB's library which I play occasionally. Most of this stuff RIAA makes such a hullabaloo over isn't worth listening to anyway.
But...any guesses how long before the RIAA succeeds in recapturing copyright on the entire public domain??
The problem with patent trolls is they have nothing to defend. A whole warehouse full of patents has no effect on trolls because they have no inventions, only patents, and there's nothing you can countersue them for. Your best hope is to try to get the patent(s) invalidated, but unless you have very deep pockets that is going to be a prohibitively expensive proposition. It can take years to get a bad patent invalidated and the typical price tag on doing that can run anywhere from $4 to 12 million or more.
As for any real reform in congress, don't expect it. This is a gravy train for patent lawyers, nearly all our congressmen are lawyers, and they're not going to go against their own kind. Go figure.
I wonder, how many patent trolls watch others develop things, write patents with claims to match their target invention(s) (like Jerome Lemelson did) then sue the pants off those who did all the hard work for them, so they can get rich off of someone else's work?
It's all about greed. These people are nothing but parasites.
In the USA I can get a 100 spindle pack of data CDRs for around $19 at Sam's Club. Music CDRs which are the only kind that will work on CD recorders cost substantially more, like around $40 for a 100 spindle pack, because they carry the RIAA tax.
On the post: Ad Agency Claims It Owns The Right To Product Placement; Sues Competitors
Re: Umm, no.
On the post: Ad Agency Claims It Owns The Right To Product Placement; Sues Competitors
Re: OOOOOOOh
BTW--I thought naturally occurring things were by law not patentable. How did they get by with this?
On the post: Ad Agency Claims It Owns The Right To Product Placement; Sues Competitors
Re: Lumpydog
Greed rules!
On the post: As Expected, Mandelson To Introduce Plan To Kick File Sharers Off The Internet
Kicking file sharers off the Internet
Well said. Though I have never engaged in illegal downloading I have determined I will never buy anything with an RIAA label on it. Not just because of their war on file sharers (including the dead and people with no computers at all) but because most of their music is just plain garbage. I have even written emails to them suggesting they could make a mint licensing filesharing, but apparently they are too set in their ways to consider the obvious.
On the post: Monster Energy Drink Hires Trademark Bully To Go After Beverage Review Site
Re: Ben
It may come sooner, it may come later, but you will reap what you have sown.
On the post: Monster Energy Drink Hires Trademark Bully To Go After Beverage Review Site
Re: Anonymous Coward
It's also dishonest and fraud if it didn't happen or you cut your lip on purpose.
On the post: Monster Energy Drink Hires Trademark Bully To Go After Beverage Review Site
Re: Zaven
I'd call it payback for all the frivolous lawsuits Monster Cable filed over its trademark.
On the post: Monster Energy Drink Hires Trademark Bully To Go After Beverage Review Site
Monster Cable revisited?
Hopefully they've abandoned that, but I'm not for sure if they have.
On the post: Looking At The Redbox Antitrust Fight
Restraint of trade?
Would this constitute restraint of trade?
On the post: Extortion Is Profitable Too, Doesn't Mean That It's A Fair Way To Profit Off Piracy
Re: Re: Re: yeah yeah, but...
/sarcasm
On the post: Extortion Is Profitable Too, Doesn't Mean That It's A Fair Way To Profit Off Piracy
Profiting from piracy by extortion
I'd call it entrapment.
On the post: No, The Music Industry Outlook Isn't Grim... Just For Selling Recorded Music
These idiots are missing the obvious...
Or maybe they're just too stubborn to change their business model.
On the post: DRM Doesn't Enable Business Models; Blind Fear Disables Business Models
Re: Greed Fixed: (Anonymous coward)
Go figure.
On the post: Frugalista! Frugalista! Frugalista! Now... Where's My Cease And Desist?
Re: Call me Al
In a similar case a US shoe manufacturer trademarked the word "Ugg" as in ugg boots, then turned around and sued a bunch of Aussie shoemakers who had been using the word in a generic sense for some thirty years before the US co. grabbed it, for the inside-out sheepskin boots they had been making all that time.
Microsoft sued Lindows for using a word that resembled "Windows", the name of their operating system, then backed down and paid Lindows a big bunch of money when they realized the court might invalidate their "Windows" TM.
If I recall correctly, you cannot legally make a trademark of a commonly used word. But people do it anyway and get by with it. So I guess "Frugalista" is just another case of the same.
On the post: California City Looks To Evade Laws On Redlight Cameras
Question
On the post: Music Publishers Push LyricWiki Into Wikia's Arms
Re: @harknell
It's all about greed, I say.
On the post: Nintendo Pays Innovation Tax To Patent Holder
Re: diabolic
As for any real reform in congress, don't expect it. This is a gravy train for patent lawyers, nearly all our congressmen are lawyers, and they're not going to go against their own kind. Go figure.
And, yes, I'm being cynical. Maybe very cynical.
On the post: Nintendo Pays Innovation Tax To Patent Holder
Re: Nintendo pays innovation tax...
It's all about greed. These people are nothing but parasites.
On the post: Canadian Copyright Levy Group Wants New iPod Tax... But It's Not Really For The Artists
Re: Prices of CDs and DVDs
On the post: Canadian Copyright Levy Group Wants New iPod Tax... But It's Not Really For The Artists
Re: Re: Re: "Canadian Copyright Levy Group Wants New iPod Tax... But It's Not Really For The Artists"
Maybe they have tapeworm mentality.
Get it? Tapeworm = parasite?
About like class action lawsuits in the USA. The lawyers get $millions, the plaintiffs get coupons. And the defendant gets the shaft.
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