Lodsys explains in-app patent warning letters sent to iOS developers
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Re: Lodsys explains in-app patent warning letters sent to iOS developers
#2If I make a music sharing site where people can upload their own music and sell their music, and my company which made the site licensed the MP3 codec or another proprietary codec to release the music files for sale, does this mean the licenser of the codec could then individually sue each person selling their music on my site, because they don't individually own a license for the codec, even though they are just using the tools provided for by them by a license holder?
This just doesn't make sense.
Re: Lodsys explains in-app patent warning letters sent to iOS developers
#3here's the actual explanation from lodsys:
http://www.lodsys.com/blog.html
they mention apple, google, microsoft have some sort of license from them, i wonder if the relatively low cost of a license is the reason: http://www.lodsys.com/1/post/2011/05/q-what-are-you-charging...
i.e., cheaper to just pay them off than fight it.
Re: Lodsys explains in-app patent warning letters sent to iOS developers
#4If I make a music sharing site where people can upload their own music and sell their music, and my company which made the site licensed the MP3 codec or another proprietary codec to release the music files for sale, does this mean the licenser of the codec could then individually sue each person selling their music on my site, because they don't individually own a license for the codec, even though they are just usi…
Patent trolling is a highly effective business model, but it has to make no sense in order to work.
Re: Lodsys explains in-app patent warning letters sent to iOS developers
#5Craig Grannell wrote an answer to the Lodsys blog: http://reverttosaved.com/2011/05/16/lodsys-responds-to-troll...
Re: Lodsys explains in-app patent warning letters sent to iOS developers
#6Well, this is one hell of a Gotcha! for everyone who is using in-app purchasing. Wasn't it the responsibility of Apple, Google, MS, to inform developers of this? Hm, I wonder if HP has a license for webOS.
And does this apply to desktop in-app purchases? What about in-app web app purchases? Does Facebook and its devs need a license?
Re: Lodsys explains in-app patent warning letters sent to iOS developers
#7If we accept this kind of shit, there will soon be hundreds of leeches asking for their share of our money. And then even the most wealthy developers will feel the pain. I say squash those bugs early. If Apple, Google, and MS pay, they are stupid.
Re: Lodsys explains in-app patent warning letters sent to iOS developers
#8If I make a music sharing site where people can upload their own music and sell their music, and my company which made the site licensed the MP3 codec or another proprietary codec to release the music files for sale, does this mean the licenser of the codec could then individually sue each person selling their music on my site, because they don't individually own a license for the codec, even though they are just usi…
That would probably depend on the terms of the IP licence. Does it cover downstream users, or not? If you're a platform, you get (hopefully, if you were properly advised) what you paid for. What you then represent to your downstream users to bring them to your platform should be honest, though. Prospective platform users presumably want to known whether this is a good platform for their business, i.e. IP-sandboxed, reliable, safe, with large footfall.
It presumably wasn't in fact IP-sandboxed. By that I mean that the upstream licensors have been selfish in their negotiations, or the platform doesn't indemnify you against claims, or even at least offer to coordinate a circling of developer wagons. What's interesting to know if whether they've nevertheless held it out as an IP-safe platform; if not, caveat emptor probably applies, and developers are now presumably kicking themselves for not making IP safety a part of their due diligence before contracting with apple, etc, for a platform on which to build their business.
Realities aside, it's tremendously regrettable that indy software developers and inventors are supposed to have to worry about third party IP rights, particularly over their usage of major commercial platforms for their business.
Re: Lodsys explains in-app patent warning letters sent to iOS developers
#9"But for an app developer to take a year or two to write an application and to see money from the app, is good fortune built on top of the contributions of the entire shared ecosystem, including independent inventor’s patent outputs such as Abelow’s." [1]
Oh give me a fucking break. Yeah, us developers would be utterly lost without the exciting "inventions" of Abelow and Lodsys LLC.
[1] http://www.lodsys.com/1/post/2011/05/q-licensing-patents-is-...
Re: Lodsys explains in-app patent warning letters sent to iOS developers
#10Well, this is one hell of a Gotcha! for everyone who is using in-app purchasing. Wasn't it the responsibility of Apple, Google, MS, to inform developers of this? Hm, I wonder if HP has a license for webOS. And does this apply to desktop in-app purchases? What about in-app web app purchases? Does Facebook and its devs need a license?
Reportedly, it isn't restricted to just in-app purchase: http://twitter.com/#!/jamesthomson/status/70095343605391360