Flooding File Sharing Networks With Bogus Files: Patented
from the seriously? dept
Well, here’s a nice convergence story covering two topics we discuss on a regular basis: file sharing and ridiculous patents. A computer science professor has now received a patent on the process of flooding a file sharing network with bogus files to annoy people trying to download files. How is this not obvious? It didn’t take a professor and a doctoral student to come up with this idea. Plenty of folks in the industry just went ahead and did it themselves. The professor also makes the same tired old mistake of saying that file sharing is the same thing as stealing a CD out of a store – something that even the Supreme Court has said is not true. Copyright infringement is definitely illegal, but it’s not the same thing as stealing a physical object. Of course, some may say that this will make it more expensive for others to flood such P2P networks with fake files (and therefore a good thing), but relying on a bad patent isn’t the way to go. I wonder if this patent covers flooding the patent office with bogus patents as well?
Comments on “Flooding File Sharing Networks With Bogus Files: Patented”
Flooding patent office with ridiculous patents
Too late, I already patented that idea…
my patent
I am patenting the concept of having ideas for having new ideas for patents.
Oh and while I am at it, I am patenting having ideas in general.
such Web sites as Kazaa
I’m not sure I agree that he was saying the classic “just like stealing from a record store” (more “most people grasp that stealing from a record store is wrong, fewer grasp that copyright infringement is”), but the USA Today hack made up for Dr. Stupid Patent’s failure to be clueless, by saying that it will be sold to record labels “who want to prevent their copyrighted products from being shared on such Web sites as Kazaa, LimeWire or BitTorrent.” Dude! I’ve been screwing around trying to find some loser who will stay online long enough to download a copy of his crappy copy, and you can just get them from the Kazaa, LimeWire or BitTorrent Web site itself?
No Subject Given
It’s not downloading that’s wrong or illegal. It’s sharing. I Wonder though: Is the title of a piece of music or other media file copyrighted? If so, couldn’t someone be committing copyright infringement by spreading bogus files with real names?
Re: No Subject Given
Sharing in its self isn’t illegal either.
ie: streaming media
Copying copyrighted material is illegal.
Good point about copyright infringement by spreading bogus files with real names. Could that be construed as fraud as well ?
Of course, the RIAA won’t pursue ” that ” violation of copyright …
Doh!
Wouldn’t have been cool if this guy were a Kazaa user who just patented the flooding method to prevent the record companies from using it?
This Professor & his PHD RA patented something already in used by others for money making purposes. I’m going to enjoy watching them trying to enforce their patent in the file sharing environment.
?If anyone could enforce any property right in this environment we would not need your invention Professor?
Anytime soon we will hear the professor quoting from the great Homer Simpson: “Doh!”. Hope he doesn’t patent this lament too. Watch out Matt Groening!