On 22 May 2012 22:37, Matt Giuca <matt.giuca@gmail.com> wrote:
From what I know about this Ric Richardson, he sounds like a huge patent troll. I may have my facts wrong, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm under the understanding that he came up with a DRM system for detecting when software moves from one machine to another to prevent it from being copied. He used it to protect his own software, then when Microsoft used similar technology, he sued them, won, and was lauded by the media as an "Aussie battler" who "beat up big bad Microsoft."
My understanding, based on media coverage (so I might be wrong), is it is a bit more complicated then that. It seems that Ric Richardson tried to license his patent to Microsoft. Negotiations failed. Ric Richardson claims they used his ideas as presented to Microsoft in the negotiations after the negotiations failed. Microsoft claim that they implemented something different. *If* Ric Richardson's claims are true, its hard to defend Microsoft's actions even if you assume that the Patent system is broken. On the other hand it is also possible that Ric Richardson's licensing demands were excessive (I can't remember the details now). -- Brian May <brian@microcomaustralia.com.au>