Bush administration, tech titans clash on patents
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| The administration's key concern is a section that it argues waters down the
| ability of judges to award damages in patent suits as they see fit,
| potentially depriving patent holders of the right to obtain the compensation
| they deserve. Right now, the Senate bill doesn't give judges or juries enough
| discretion in deciding how much to award, Dudas said. That's been arguably
| the biggest sticking point all along among supporters and opponents of the
| bill.
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http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9865029-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Torvalds worries about patents and slow storage
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| "One thing that has been worrisome over the last few years are … stupid
| external issues -- especially patents and stuff like that. Those are the
| things that worry technical people. Probably because they feel like they --
| including me -- can't necessarily do a lot about them.
|
| "When you don't feel in control you start worrying," said Torvalds.
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http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/software/soa/Torvalds-worries-about-patents-and-slow-storage/0,130061733,339285687,00.htm
Related to this:
Industry giants lobby to kill pro-consumer data-breach legislation
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| In a direct slap in the face to consumers, tech industry giants including
| Microsoft, AT&T, and Verizon are frantically engaged in an effort to kill
| pro-consumer provisions in a data breach notification bill currently being
| considered by the Indiana State Senate.
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http://www.cnet.com/8301-13739_1-9865076-46.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Related:
EPO revokes Amazon’s “Gift Ordering” patent after opposition hearing
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| The so-called "Gift Order Patent" has been revoked by the EPO in an
| opposition proceeding today after a hearing involving three opposing parties
| and the patent proprietor, Amazon Inc. The patent relates to a method for
| purchasing goods over the Internet to be sent as gifts.
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http://www.epo.org/topics/news/2007/20071207.html
E.U. de facto endorses Microsoft's (claims of) Software Patents!
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| Without explicitly saying that Microsoft does hold software patents
| applicable in the E.U., by allowing (the raison d'être of) and accepting the
| one-off payment of EUR 10,000 "to be paid by companies that dispute the
| validity or relevance of Microsoft's patents", the European Commission
| implicitly endorses Microsoft's claims of having the "interoperability
| information" covered by software patents!
|
| UNBELIEVABLE.
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http://beranger.org/index.php?page=diary&2007/10/30/15/13/02-e-u-de-facto-endorses-microsoft-
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|
