tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82373823364603534702024-09-12T23:12:53.472-07:00A discussion of intellectual property, technology, business and the space between.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8237382336460353470.post-8546606055393238662007-04-21T12:35:00.000-07:002007-05-05T11:13:53.199-07:00

PC manufacturers and Global warmingA few weeks ago, Former Vice President Al Gore testified in front of Congress telling them that the world faces "a true planetary emergency" unless it dramatically and immediately reduces emissions that most scientists tie to global warming.One industry that's making a particularly large environmental impact, is the PC manufacturing industry. As small as

Marchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02841154447146189341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8237382336460353470.post-85557368832030025472007-04-02T16:01:00.000-07:002007-04-02T16:08:06.356-07:00

Why can't the people who write laws be more like coders?Anybody who has done legal research knows that the layout of most laws and regulations follow a logic that is largely inaccessible to the public. In fact, if it is tied to logic at all, it is only by the most tenuous of threads.Instead, I wish that either coders were hired to write laws, or legislators had to learn a bit about coding.That

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8237382336460353470.post-78246015421579725232007-03-24T19:10:00.000-07:002007-03-24T19:50:16.577-07:00

Marc's post below mentions copyright and computer code and brings up some interesting points regarding the current state of copyright law. Section 102 of the copyright code states that copyright protection may be extended to:"[O]riginal works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8237382336460353470.post-86220873195346218132007-03-20T08:33:00.000-07:002007-03-24T19:37:22.652-07:00

In 2003, the SCO group--formerly known as Caldera Systems--filed a $1 billion lawsuit in the US against IBM claiming that they had, without authorization, contributed SCO's intellectual property to the codebase of the open source, Unix-like Linux operating system.Fast forward to 2007 where we discover in the latest March 7th hearings that out of the bajillion lines of GPL code in the Linux kernel

Marchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02841154447146189341noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8237382336460353470.post-33496869698253935072007-03-17T09:45:00.000-07:002007-03-17T09:53:51.695-07:00

Not only do patent attorneys and agents find patent drafting incredibly frustrating, but judge seem to as well. As blogged by fedcirc.us, Judge Linn, a CAFC judge, grew frustrated during oral argument and stated the following:“This is an interesting case...it's so typical of so many patent cases that are litigated and come up to this court. We have a term in the claim that's in dispute...it's

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8237382336460353470.post-87138593225642035372007-03-16T15:05:00.000-07:002007-03-16T15:10:25.079-07:00

As reported by the Washington Post, terrorists are becoming more and more difficult to profile. The statement, though, begs a question:Have we ever been able to profile them?I think the only constant characteristic of terrorists is that they all tend to be pretty pissed off. Maybe we could start there?The article provides several examples showing why profiling people to discover the "evil doers"

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8237382336460353470.post-55682822152215232012007-03-12T23:35:00.000-07:002007-03-12T23:44:26.843-07:00

As reported by the NY Times, Ford is selling Aston Martin. The sale of Aston Martin - a luxurious sports car brand with its roots in England - will raise an estimated $848 million.To be honest, I'm a little surprised that Ford has elected to sell Aston Martin. Personal observations in Phoenix lead me to believe that the brand was quickly becoming popular and probably profitable - something that

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8237382336460353470.post-38680319205937764692007-03-10T20:24:00.000-08:002007-03-10T20:42:14.356-08:00

Normally, the scope of a patent is limited by its claims interpreted in light of the specification. The claims are a series of sentences that describe the invention. In most cases, they are written so that they broadly describe the invention thereby giving the inventor the broadest possible patent and the broadest possible protection.Sometimes, however, judges ruling on patent cases will rely

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8237382336460353470.post-16722601765398408052007-03-06T22:33:00.000-08:002007-03-06T22:59:40.843-08:00

Ernest Gallo of E. & J. Gallo Winery has died, reports the NY Times. I only recently became aware of Mr. Gallo and his winery after reading about them in a Trademark case dealing with another's similar trade mark. After reading the case, however, I now know that his winery is one of the largest in the country and imports a massive amount of Italian wines.E. & J. Gallo Winery is the source of '

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8237382336460353470.post-25383696616955711622007-03-06T19:39:00.000-08:002007-03-06T19:39:42.060-08:00

As reported by the BBC, Hitachi has unveiled the world's smallest RFID tag. As always, an announcement like this will spur some debate about privacy and the advancement of technology.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8237382336460353470.post-57620945895144983642007-03-05T14:52:00.000-08:002007-03-05T13:52:13.846-08:00

The Arizona Republic reports that Warren Buffet has expressed a hope that his money will be spent "quickly" after his death.In his annual letter to shareholders of his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Buffett said his will states that the proceeds from all shares he owns at death must be used for "philanthropic purposes within 10 years after my estate is closed.""I want the money to be

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8237382336460353470.post-73588154854401170382007-03-04T21:22:00.000-08:002007-03-04T21:26:01.844-08:00

More Sirius-XM merger news from the NY Times.This time it's an article describing the CEO of Sirius Radio, Mel Karmazin. The article provides a nice description of Mr. Karmazin and his enthusiasm for a successful merger.Last week, Mr. Karmazin took his campaign to win over lawmakers and regulators to Washington with his pitch that a single satellite radio company would mean more choice and lower

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8237382336460353470.post-82363567959075235492007-03-03T19:54:00.000-08:002007-03-03T20:02:41.044-08:00

As mentioned below, Sirius and XM are starting to ramp up their efforts to get their merger blessed.Earlier today I happened upon their hearings on C-SPAN and was not surprised by their arguments. They maintain, of course, that there are innumerable ways for competitors to compete with satellite radio. Here's a brief list:Large terrestrial radio companies could provide high-quality nation-wide

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8237382336460353470.post-51463361222999377782007-03-02T11:59:00.000-08:002007-03-02T20:01:20.360-08:00

As reported by the BBC, the BBC has entered into a deal with YouTube that would create three new channels showing BBC content. One channel will be dedicated to clips of news programs, while the other two will focus on entertainment content.Although other major content owners have entered into similar deals with YouTube, the motivations of the BBC may be slightly different from those of other

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8237382336460353470.post-53940496003527668802007-03-01T09:48:00.001-08:002007-03-01T21:47:15.449-08:00

The NY Times has an article providing some tips and tricks for avoiding spam. It basically boils down to using spam filters... Yay, great advice.But... the article did remind me of a funny story I heard about Lawrence Lessig over at Standford Law School. Apparently, several years ago, he became so overwhelmed with the amount of spam that he was receiving that he simply declared 'email

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8237382336460353470.post-86763901282709357522007-03-01T08:48:00.000-08:002007-03-01T21:22:05.514-08:00

The Arizona Republic reports that IKEA is going to start charging for plastic bags at all of its American locations. The goal, of course, is to force people to internalize the cost of their garbage. It's awfully difficult to do with pollution - how can we measure the pollution an individual creates - but it's easy for garbage. Simply charge people when they buy what will, inevitably, make its

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8237382336460353470.post-82705832119792018232007-02-28T18:42:00.000-08:002007-02-28T21:09:52.442-08:00

Both the Sirius and XM satellite radio companies have gone to Washington to try and sell their merger the NY times reports.No doubt, we'll be seeing more of this lobbying as the antitrust storm starts to gather. And, as market definition is often the main issue in antitrust cases, look for lobbying about what constitutes the satellite radio market.In short, the fundamental question is this: is

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0