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Digital Property Ownership... Patented!
from the um...-wait dept
Well, here's a Friday afternoon patent stumper. We've had some great discussions lately about the issue of ownership of virtual goods in gaming environments and the crazy legal ramifications it's raising. However, most of us never thought to wonder if the idea of ownership of virtual goods had been patented. Apparently, it has been, as virtual ownership pioneer Julian Dibbell has discovered. You might recognize some of the names of the patent owners too. Ron Martinez, Greg Guerin, and Bruce Schneier happen to own a patent on a virtual property system. Ed Felten takes a look at the patent and suggest that it appears to cover the patent system itself. So, apparently, there's no need to debate the issues related to ownership of digital goods. It's already been patented. I also wonder if this can apply to any of the digital music services, as well.
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No Subject Given
The USPTO is not a regulatory agency. It is a database of known methods. It has already admitted that it only searches within its own database to find prior art. Adding one more element to the database harms noone. The vast majority of patents are used defensively, or as political bargaining chips between two rival corporations.
To be newsworthy, there has to be some conflict. Does the patent owner prosecute to withhold those obvious methods from someone else?
If nobody's suing over the patent, then STFU about patents, already; the story ain't worth the bandwidth it's printed on.
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Re: No Subject Given
"Cranky people should not have an internet connection." SAT '98
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