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Obama administration vetos Apple iPhone 4, 3G iPad 2 product ban [pdf]

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Re: Obama administration vetos Apple iPhone 4, 3G iPad 2 product ban [pdf]

#14

Post by ianlevesque »

cromwellian wrote: post #10

Seems to me that in the future, companies are going to withhold some of their patents from FRAND even if they would be potentially more useful as FRAND to continue to use them as a weapon. The potential royalties of many of these FRAND patents seem small compared to the damages from infringement. In fact, it seems the value of a patent is inversely proportional to it's usefulness. A patent which covers a critical wir…

An interesting opinion. It'll be interesting to see if the incentives align better with the guaranteed royalties from FRAND licensing vs. as you say "potential" royalties from trolling. If they don't this is an obvious place for policy changes (not that that is likely to happen if this kind of interventionism prevents real pain for large corporations).

Re: Obama administration vetos Apple iPhone 4, 3G iPad 2 product ban [pdf]

#15

Post by mtgx »

revelation wrote: post #6

What a joke. So good to see the president is finally tackling the patent abuses, by protecting local trolls from a taste of their very own medicine. (The justification here being that this ban is not "in the interest of the public". If this was considered in ay other cases, we'd all be paying cents for generics from India instead of thousands of millions for the brand version)

This is what increasingly bothers me lately about the decisions they make. They're sacrificing a lot of stuff "in the interest of public good". It seems like a lot of collectivism.

"We can't put bankers in prison because this way it's better for the public/the economy"

"We can't punish any corporation with more than a relatively minor fine, because that would hurt the public"

"We can't let a judge's decision about banning Apple's product for losing a patent battle in war they started, be implemented, because that would hurt the public".

The worst part is that they must be thinking these are really good decisions. It's probably why Obama convinced himself and did a 180 on the mass spying, too "because it's in the interest of the public".

Re: Obama administration vetos Apple iPhone 4, 3G iPad 2 product ban [pdf]

#16

Post by hga »

asveikau wrote: post #4

I know political discussion on HN is frowned upon by some, but I get amused thinking of hypothetical reaction from the president's opponents. This seems to be an action against regulation of business, but it's the Obama administration, therefore... Communism! Apple is in the tank for Obamacare!

If you had any familiarly with "the president's opponents", you would know we label this as "crony capitalism" (much more akin to original formula Italian fascist corporatism), and have so since at least the 2009 cram-down of Chrysler's secured bond holders. While of course partisan, this OPED by the Republican governor of Indiana lays out the issues and some of the longer term consequences and outcomes: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870356160457528...

Note Apple's board includes one "Albert Gore Jr., Former Vice President of the United States": http://www.apple.com/pr/bios/ It's good to have friends in high places.

(Also note the cramdown was a remarkably bad long term idea; most specifically, because it ensures in the future heavily unionized companies in trouble will find it very difficult to pledge their assets for money to get themselves out of it. One of the major reasons Ford didn't have to declare bankruptcy is that its then new CEO, previously a Boeing lifer, in 2006 pledged all the company's assets to borrow $23.6 billion dollars: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Mulally#Ford_Motor_Company .)

Re: Obama administration vetos Apple iPhone 4, 3G iPad 2 product ban [pdf]

#17

Post by droithomme »

yanofsky wrote: post #9
el_chapitan wrote: post #3

Point of order. This isn't a veto. A veto is for legislation, this is fully contained within the executive branch.

Another Point of Order. Obama didn't do this, the USTR did, on the authority of the President. Edit: It would be fair to say: "The Obama Administration did this"

The President is the only one authorized by Section 337 to take this action. Although the President assigned his authority to the trade representative on his behalf, this action is only permitted under the law to the extent it is done by the President.

Re: Obama administration vetos Apple iPhone 4, 3G iPad 2 product ban [pdf]

#18

Post by melling »

jivatmanx wrote: post #8

Intervening in one case for an iconic American company is protectionism, not free trade. That would have entailed reforming the patent system for everyone. This is ominous, what if this is remembered as the equivalent of Smoot-Hawley? Patents are a hell of a lot more complex than tariffs... and at least the ITC is trying to do international coordination here, and Obama has just blatantly undermined them.

I've gotta ask if you understand anything about the case, or are you just trying to speak generally.

Re: Obama administration vetos Apple iPhone 4, 3G iPad 2 product ban [pdf]

#19

Post by comex »

jivatmanx wrote: post #8

Intervening in one case for an iconic American company is protectionism, not free trade. That would have entailed reforming the patent system for everyone. This is ominous, what if this is remembered as the equivalent of Smoot-Hawley? Patents are a hell of a lot more complex than tariffs... and at least the ITC is trying to do international coordination here, and Obama has just blatantly undermined them.

Taking legal action against FRAND abuse is hardly unique to the US.

http://www.fosspatents.com/2012/12/european-commission-to-is...

See also Mueller on this veto; while I often disagree with him, I tend to agree on this issue:

http://www.fosspatents.com/2013/08/obama-administration-veto...

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