RSS
Facebook Sued For Patent Infringement For Online Photo Albums
from the the-patent-system,-she-is-broken dept
A few years back, patent troll FotoMedia sued dozens of companies that hosted photos online for patent infringement. Many were small mom-and-pop outfits who could barely afford a lawyer to deal with this sort of thing. Some even talked of leaving the country, since running a business in the US became too expensive due to such patent trolling lawsuits. Still, many firms settled, because that's cheaper than fighting. The FotoMedia shakedown got extra attention this summer, as it was the opening vignette on This American Life's story about our broken patent system.
The "company" has apparently been quiet for a while, but recently targeted a big fish: it's now suing Facebook for patent infringement for the mortal sin of letting people create photo albums online. It's also suing MySpace, as if that site still exists, and some others. Obviously, the main target is Facebook. Facebook has been hit with a bunch of patent suits, as has any tech company that has been moderately successful, and has tended to fight back. Hopefully that continues in this case.
The "company" has apparently been quiet for a while, but recently targeted a big fish: it's now suing Facebook for patent infringement for the mortal sin of letting people create photo albums online. It's also suing MySpace, as if that site still exists, and some others. Obviously, the main target is Facebook. Facebook has been hit with a bunch of patent suits, as has any tech company that has been moderately successful, and has tended to fight back. Hopefully that continues in this case.
I’m looking for research...
Innovate More. Code Less: Optimizing Open-Source Utilization
Why Data Is The New Oil, With Dan Foreman Of Lumi Mobile
I have a business...
To Understand The Data Move It Closer
The Future Of Commerce Will Combine Your Social Network And Mobile Device
I have an idea...
Finding Co-Founders in a Recovering Economy
5 Things You Should Know About Crowdfunding For Startups
Reader Comments (rss)
(Flattened / Threaded)
One more day
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: One more day
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Although the complete demise of MySpace is conventional wisdom, in reality MySpace currently has 70 million users worldwide and 33 million in the U.S and an estimate of $183 million in revenue this year. You might as well talk about AOL and Yahoo in only the past tense as well.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-myspace-20111004,0,4026295.story
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
And I've never used myspace, is the current myspace.com the same service that was a hype a while ago? I also heard they were closing down...
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
MySpace also still allows one to create an account with an alias rather than your true name. I had a Facebook account for 8 minutes in order to contact an old acquaintance. The account was frozen by software surveillance after 8 minutes because my name was suspected to be fictitious. I thought "Conifer Tweed" was rather nice and rolled off the tongue well.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
you don't need to be jerk about it
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Ahem, they should sue Google Picasa too. Come on, just Trolling a small company like Facebook is no fun!
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
So no analysis of the claim, just some innuendo and FUD. Good job, Pirate Mike! Keep givin' us surface and no depth. Good on ya! Go pirates!
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
I completely agree. Here is just about the only example of a (relatively recent) good patent that I've seen and somehow our system even managed to botch that. Imagine. Maybe the only example of a good patent and our system still manages to mess things up. Unbelievable. Can't we do anything right?
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Some will claim that patents were meant to "promote the progress", or to be an incentive for creation that would not otherwise get done, but after centuries of this garbage, we ought to be able to see that it does neither. By definition, patents hold back progress. Patents do nothing to spur creation, only to increase costs and/or slow down progress.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Why do IP maximists always want other people to do their work for them?
I can't innovate, so I'll simply get a patent and when Facebook does all the work and innovates, I'll take their money through frivolous lawsuits.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
You sir, failed. Seriously. Go back to slashdot.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
And maybe the answer is that the patent system simply sucks and there aren't very many good patent examples.
Besides, it's hard to take your question seriously when your comment seems sarcastic and fixated at cussing at Mike and criticizing the fact that he's criticizing the patent system (without criticizing his actual criticisms). Your comment isn't intended to be a serious comment asking for serious answers, it's a comment designed more or less to attack Mike.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re:
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
John Walker
and
Frank Whittle
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Stolen IP
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
that apart surely there is room for more than one album.
why is flikr not on the list.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090825/0453005994.shtml
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/2 0101024/21393211556/company-making-cab-limo-rides-more-efficient-ordered-to-stop.shtml
http://www .techdirt.com/articles/20090813/1814005872.shtml
and you wonder why this country is failing.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
disgusting
TIME TO stop listening and just ignore the law////its gone stupid for good.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
another biased article
Call it what you will...patent hoarder, patent troll, non-practicing entity, etc. It all means one thing: “we’re using your invention and we’re not going to pay”. This is just dissembling by large infringers to kill any inventor support system. It is purely about legalizing theft.
Prior to eBay v Mercexchange, small entities had a viable chance at commercializing their inventions. If the defendant was found guilty, an injunction was most always issued. Then the inventor small entity could enjoy the exclusive use of his invention in commercializing it. Unfortunately, injunctions are often no longer available to small entity inventors because of the Supreme Court decision so we have no fair chance to compete with much larger entities who are now free to use our inventions. Essentially, large infringers now have your gun and all the bullets. Worse yet, inability to commercialize means those same small entities will not be hiring new employees to roll out their products and services. And now some of those same parties who killed injunctions for small entities and thus blocked their chance at commercializing now complain that small entity inventors are not commercializing. They created the problem and now they want to blame small entities for it. What dissembling! If you don’t like this state of affairs (your unemployment is running out), tell your Congress member. Then maybe we can get some sense back in the patent system with injunctions fully enforceable on all infringers by all inventors, large and small.
For the truth about trolls, please see http://truereform.piausa.org/default.html#pt.
Masnick and his monkeys have an unreported conflict of interest-
https://www.insightcommunity.com/cases.php?n=10&pg=1
They sell blog filler and "insights" to major corporations including MS, HP, IBM etc. who just happen to be some of the world’s most frequent patent suit defendants. Obviously, he has failed to report his conflicts as any reputable reporter would. But then Masnick and his monkeys are not reporters. They are patent system saboteurs receiving funding from huge corporate infringers. They cannot be trusted and have no credibility. All they know about patents is they don’t have any.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
If they survive they've won the right to sue.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in chronology ]
Add Your Comment