Podcasting Under Threat? (with Julie Samuels of EFF)

The Electronic Frontier Foundation's Julie Samuels explained how patent trolls work, why podcasts are threatened by the troll business, how patent rules don't reflect technological changes and the best ways to protect businesses from trolls.

This clip from the Majority Report, live M-F at 12 noon EST and via daily podcast at http://Majority.FM

• Category

  News & Politics

[Centrophy]

The sad part is there are people in this society who will defend these kinds of actions and the system that allows this. Current copyright and patent law just needs to be thrown out and rewritten, sadly with the current state of the world companies like Disney and Microsoft will write them to be even more slanted in their favor. It's hard to be an activist in today's corporatist run world.

[Christian Islam]

Mystery Solved: Your Patent Troll is probably a libertarian.

[bluewolverine40]

legislation???? hahahaha i laugh at that because of this congress 

[bluewolverine40]

this crap really makes me loose my god damn mind

[victrola13]

Talk about extortion. Look at the data aggregators. If you own a small business and misinformation concerning your contact information is entered into one aggregator (maybe on purpose) by a third party, then companies like YEXT extorts at least 500. from you to "fix" the incorrect information on the data aggregators that replicate the incorrect information over and over. More extortion.

[sharper68]

Happens all the time.

[DorianGrayism]

A) Didn't say there was a free market. I was giving a Libertarian perspective. Obviously, the dumb social democrats on this channel cannot fathom that and that is why they have up voted that comment.

B) I am not defending software companies. I am not really sure what your point is.

[SynS7ven]

@Sam Seder - While companies like amazon just fold and pay, other smaller businesses are fighting back and winning against patent trolls. Neweggs lawyers put out a cool statement titled "Screw Patent Trolls". You should check it out.

techdirt.com/articles/20130128­/10521621810/neweggs-screw-pat­ent-trolls-strategy-leads-to-v­ictory.shtml

[EeeScape]

Yes, but the problem is that patents used to be isolated to just physical inventions; like a electronic circuit, or tool, or CPU design. As software became more prevalent software companies started seeing an opportunity, hired attorneys to apply patents to software, even if they were based on Derivative Works and Prior Art. Thus, the original intent of patent is being abused and misapplied when it comes to software patents.

[EeeScape]

There is no such thing free-market (unless you barter and trade in Africa). And there is no freedom without law.

[sevret313]

I don't see how you are getting away with stealing another companies code.