[PLUG] THIS AMERICAN LIFE: The Patent Show

[Michael R]

Galen Seitz wrote:
> Keith Lofstrom wrote:
>> On Wed,
Jul 20, 2011 at 02:40:15PM -0700, Galen Seitz wrote:
>>> THIS
AMERICAN LIFE: The Patent Show
>>> Sun, July 24, 10am. Why would
a company rent an office in a tiny town
>>> in East Texas, put a
nameplate on the door ... and then leave it
>>> completely empty
for a year? The answer involves a controversial
>>> billionaire
physicist in Seattle, a 40-pound cookbook and a war that
>>> is
waging right now across the software and tech industries. This
>>> American Life unpacks an amazing story of a battle over
progress,
>>> innovation and the U. S. Constitution.
>>
>> Could somebody summarize this for me?  I have a hard
time hearing,
>> radio shows especially.  I assume this is about
Nathan Myrvold,
>> his company Intellectual Ventures, and the
patent-troll-friendly
>> East Texas district of the US District
Court.
> 
> You're in luck.  There's a transcript of the show.
 24 page pdf.
>
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/sites/default/files/TAL441_transcript.pdf

You might want to save it for Halloween.  It's one of the
scariest things I've listened to in years.

Summary: Venture
capitalists have heavily invested in patent ownership companies that extort
payment for patents they control.  Scary because the USPO has issued
thousands of patents for software ideas.  As in "online backup"
is covered by over 3,000 patents, of which at least three have identical
titles.  (So much for "non-obvious and unique")   


-- 
     Michael Rasmussen
  
http://www.jamhome.us/
 Be Appropriate && Follow Your Curiosity