[opendtv] Re: News: Is Apple Planning A Move Against Ogg Theora?
- From: Tom Barry <trbarry@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 07 May 2010 20:37:32 -0400
Allen Le Roy Limberg wrote:
> Mathematical algorithms have never been a subject for U. S. patent, but
> perhaps they should be patentable. One of the great technical innovations
> of the late 20th century was Tukey's FFT and DFT. This Princeton University
> professor probably ended up with essentially zilch for his intellectual
> achievements.
>
I'm sorry for him. He deserved it. Though it is not unusual for the
actual inventor to not get the benefits which often accrue to some
corporation.
Isn't there a patent on the H264 integer transform? (of much less
significance)
> Software is usually protected by copyright, rather than patent. While the
> term for patent is somewhat less than twenty years, the term for copyright
> is the writer's lifetime plus 75 years. A great benefit for Microsoft. A
> reasonable argument can be made that software should be protected by patent
> rather than copyright.
>
>
Software is protected by both, plus contract and trade secret law. The
discussion at hand here is mostly about patents on video encoding and
decoding, at least partially in software and potentially infringing in
software. Do you believe it serves the public good to set up a patent
pool to go after open source software Ogg Theora or Google VP-8 users?
Or VC-1 once it was offered as a standard?
> The formatting of electromagnetic signals was ruled unpatentable subject
> matter in In re Nuijten
> 84 U.S.P.Q.2d 1495 (Fed. Cir. 2007) decided September 20, 2007. One wonders
> how this will affect Rembrandt bringing suit against DTV broadcasters based
> on a patent purchased from AT&T.
>
> Patent pools allow a manufacturer to compete on fairly even terms with other
> manufacturers without much risk of being tied up with litigation or court
> orders. The resulting competition may actually drive down costs for
> consumers. Also, continuing development is much less risky for a
> manufacturer planning a late entry.
>
Patent pools should be outlawed as they allow otherwise potential
competitors to conspire in ways that would otherwise be illegal.
> The substantial patent maintenance fees paid by companies are in effect a
> tax we pay to the U. S. government, courtesy of Ronald Reagan and his crowd.
> With R & D moving out of the U. S., it is a way for our government to tax
> companies in other countries.
>
>
This make little sense to me. Care to explain? I don't really expect
other countries to continue to go along with all our intellectual
property claims forever.
> If one thinks that use of intellectual property should be free, why not let
> homeless people live in his house? And add on a little shack if they feel
> cramped for space? Maybe you don't own a house or any patents.
>
Is that one of the "you are a commie because you question big business
and the government" arguments? Please don't.
- Tom
> Al
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tom Barry" <trbarry@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 04, 2010 4:22 AM
> Subject: [opendtv] Re: News: Is Apple Planning A Move Against Ogg Theora?
>
>
>
>> Kon Wilms wrote:
>>
>>> On Mon, May 3, 2010 at 1:17 PM, Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> In all likelihood it will be MPEG-LA or a few of the usual suspects
>>>>
> (not
>
>>>> Apple) who will go after Ogg and anyone else who tries to create a
>>>>
> royalty
>
>>>> free video codec. They went after Microsoft, which tried to give VC-3
>>>>
> to
>
>>>> SMPTE.
>>>>
>>>>
>>> Just another reason to add to the laundry list as to why our patent
>>> system needs to be dissolved.
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>> Kon
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> The strongest agreement here. There is great cost and little public
>> benefit in allowing abstract patents on mathematical algorithms,
>> business practices, and especially software. We should stop this
>> immediately.
>>
>> - Tom
>>
>>
>>
>>
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