Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Yahoo Crosses The Line

avc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 236 posts

Re: Yahoo Crosses The Line

#91

Post by joering2 »

guard-of-terra wrote: post #82
joering2 wrote: post #67

I really don't understand what their weak market position has to do with this lawsuit. If Yahoo! believes Facebook violated their patents, they will sue. They _should_ sue. They do it now because apparently that's the way new CEO does the business. I can't blame him, can you? Now, whether FW post was an emotional rant or he has any business saying what he said, hard to judge. But I read his blog for a while now and d…

No it should not. It's as if you said, if Yahoo has a gun, it should fire at Facebook. Tech companies do not make their living by exploiting their patents directly (as e.g. pharma companies do). They make living from advertising to their userbase. They do patent some things they use to keep and monetize that usebase, but there is no direct relation. So: Of course they should not sue "by default". It just isn't a winn…

so as long as I do a business in tech, I should not care about anyones patents (or IP in that matter) -- just open the patent book and look what I can steal (sorry: take) from others and use it to build my own tech company.

Okay then.

Re: Yahoo Crosses The Line

#92

Post by wpietri »

gizzlon wrote: post #69
maximveksler wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use a personal email domain on gmail[1] as well. But for a different reason: It allows a "catch all" email, so I register on every site as @vekslers.org and have my account act as a catch all sink. This allows me to both filter out spamming sources and trace back who leaked my email address to 3rd party sources. This approach is a pivot on the name+tag@domain.com email tagging which most js form validations devs ar…

I wonder how hard this is to set up if you run your own mail server.. should be pretty easy.. Do you get a lot of spam to addresses like admin@domain ?

I used to run a catchall and the problem wasn't addresses like admin@; it was popular names. Turns out some spammers just take a list of common email local parts and email those names at every domain they can find.

There's a silver lining, though. When I took down my catchall I took the 100 most popular guessed addresses and routed them all to my Bayesian trainer. It was a big help with certain sorts of spam.

Re: Yahoo Crosses The Line

#93

Post by spolsky »

CPlatypus wrote: post #11

The OP wouldn't seem quite so hypocritical if VCs didn't put immense pressure on startups to generate patents. Don't tell me those patents are supposed to be purely defensive, either. They were supposed to stake out a bit of technical turf, just like Yahoo's doing. I'm not saying it's right, but I don't think much of demanding patent generation on one hand and then complaining about their use on the other. If you wan…

Union Square Ventures, of which Fred Wilson ("the OP") is a partner, is an investor in my startup (Stack Exchange). They never put pressure on us to generate patents. They have been consistently anti-patent for quite some time. They have complained frequently that a third of their portfolio is under attack from patent trolls. They have organized fundraisers and meetings which I have attended with Senator Chuck Schumer from New York to press their position for patent reform.

Maybe YOUR stone-age, backward-ass VC thinks that startups should generate patents, but don't tar Fred Wilson with that brush.

Re: Yahoo Crosses The Line

#94

Post by vidarh »

CPlatypus wrote: post #11

The OP wouldn't seem quite so hypocritical if VCs didn't put immense pressure on startups to generate patents. Don't tell me those patents are supposed to be purely defensive, either. They were supposed to stake out a bit of technical turf, just like Yahoo's doing. I'm not saying it's right, but I don't think much of demanding patent generation on one hand and then complaining about their use on the other. If you wan…

I've worked in, and co-founded, several VC funded startups, and even have my name on a patent. Despite that I have never come across a case where the VC's pushed for patents at all, and several where they thought it was a waste of time and money.

Re: Yahoo Crosses The Line

#95

Post by prof_hobart »

viggity wrote: post #6

I really don't like saying this, but here it goes: Don't hate the player, hate the game. We need real, substantive patent reform in this country.

How about hating both?

Yes, current patent law is broken, but that doesn't mean that Y! have to use it. If this was a defensive move against a patent claim from Facebook, I'd have some sympathy. But as far as I can tell, it isn't. So I don't.

Re: Yahoo Crosses The Line

#96

Post by guard-of-terra »

joering2 wrote: post #91
guard-of-terra wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No it should not. It's as if you said, if Yahoo has a gun, it should fire at Facebook. Tech companies do not make their living by exploiting their patents directly (as e.g. pharma companies do). They make living from advertising to their userbase. They do patent some things they use to keep and monetize that usebase, but there is no direct relation. So: Of course they should not sue "by default". It just isn't a winn…

so as long as I do a business in tech, I should not care about anyones patents (or IP in that matter) -- just open the patent book and look what I can steal (sorry: take) from others and use it to build my own tech company. Okay then.

You don't need to open the patent book for that. Patents are written in such horrible language that you should not bother. The signal to noise ratio is pathetic.

Instead - yes, you just open the HN and look what you cak take from others and use it to build your own tech company. That's what you do. Are you new?

Re: Yahoo Crosses The Line

#98

Post by joering2 »

guard-of-terra wrote: post #96
joering2 wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so as long as I do a business in tech, I should not care about anyones patents (or IP in that matter) -- just open the patent book and look what I can steal (sorry: take) from others and use it to build my own tech company. Okay then.

You don't need to open the patent book for that. Patents are written in such horrible language that you should not bother. The signal to noise ratio is pathetic. Instead - yes, you just open the HN and look what you cak take from others and use it to build your own tech company. That's what you do. Are you new?

yes I am new. Today I learnt that HN society hates patents and everything related to it (which kind of make sense). Lost 10% of my karma in couple minutes over 3 posts I wrote.

Re: Yahoo Crosses The Line

#99

Post by fredwilson »

CPlatypus wrote: post #11

The OP wouldn't seem quite so hypocritical if VCs didn't put immense pressure on startups to generate patents. Don't tell me those patents are supposed to be purely defensive, either. They were supposed to stake out a bit of technical turf, just like Yahoo's doing. I'm not saying it's right, but I don't think much of demanding patent generation on one hand and then complaining about their use on the other. If you wan…

we don't do that at USV and never have. i agree that the VC industry is guilty of that practice, but we are not.

Re: Yahoo Crosses The Line

#100

Post by meric »

tmuir wrote: post #87
funkah wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good point, Apple is literally the only other company that has ever filed a patent lawsuit.

Apple sits diametrically opposed to Yahoo in the overall internet zeitgeist. Apple is the hot girl everyone gives a pass to, and Yahoo is the band nerd that everyone laughs at.

It used to be the other way around, say, circa 1997.
Post reply on HN