A while back I was confounded by Clear Channel’s move to patent a system of making and distributing audio recordings of live concerts at venues throughout the
Well, you gotta love the Electronic Frontier Foundation and its mission of “Defending Freedom in the Digital World,” because they challenged the patent, placed it on their Patent Busting Project’s “Most Wanted” list, and have now announced that the US Patent and Trademark Office has agreed to reexamine it. Here’s one snip:
“The Patent Office agrees that there are serious questions about the patent’s validity,” said EFF Staff Attorney Jason Schultz. “This is a significant victory for artists and innovators harmed by Clear Channel’s patent and for anyone concerned about overreaching, illegitimate patents.”
Although this is clearly still in the early stages, hopefully Clear Channel will be shot down on this bogus patent, allowing competition—from other services (such as Kafula or Hyburn) or from the band’s own systems of recording—the ability to move ahead without any threat from Clear Channel’s patent overreaching.
Let us all collectively thank (and contribute to) the Electronic Frontier Foundation for their consistent efforts to demand digital rights and work against organizations seeking to limit those rights through strict policies, ridiculous patents, and the like. Here are some links:
- Electronic Frontier Foundation
- News link
- EFF’s Deep Links (other News from the frontier)
- EFF’s Patent Busting Project
- EFF’s Patent Busting Project: Clear Channel info
In other patent news silliness, Netflix is suing Blockbuster over its efforts to compete in the online/mail DVD market. Netflix is making claims of ownership on its wishlist system of customer “queues” and “also believes its patents cover perhaps its most popular feature – the option of renting a DVD for an unlimited time without incurring late fees.”
Wow. just wow.
(thanks to Boingboing.net for the tip)
