Selling music online - patent infringement!!!

elektro80

A Cnet story talks about patent problems for digital music distributors (such as Apple's iTunes Music Store), highlighted by a lawsuit against CDNow:
The patents - granted to SightSound in 1992 - give the company control over a technique for "electronic sales and distribution of digital audio or video signals," specifically over a "telecommunications line." SightSound is suing to stop CDNow from pursuing "any infringing activities," as well as to claim unspecified damages.
Read in a business environment 10 years after the patents were granted, the language is broad. They don't cover a specific technology for encoding or transmitting data; instead, they outline a basic model for sending a digital audio or video signal from one place to another over telecommunications lines, in which a copy of the audio or video is stored on a consumer's computer and a credit card is used for payment.
CDNow had contended, amongst other myriad objections, that this description didn't cover Internet transmission. But in almost every case, the judge's ruling on the scope of the patents agreed with SightSound's contentions.

http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-5101490.html

mosc · Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2003 5:26 pm Post subject:

These very broad patents should have been thrown out in the patent office. They should never be granted in the first place. Ridiculous. For a technology to be patented, it must be not obvious. I hope CDNow appeals and gets this ruling overturned.

I once designed a computer controlled animation stand. It had an innovative follow focus system. I gave a couple of papers about it in 1980 at the Society of Mution Pictures and Television Engineers (SMPTE) convention in Los Angeles. After I delivered the paper, some guy came up and said something like, "That was a very fine paper. Did you know I invented it and I own the patent for controlling an animation stand with a computer? If you try to sell this, I'll sue you." He gave me the patent number which indeed turned out to be a valid patent. We ignored the threat and sold the computer controlled animation and optical printing equipment. We were never sued. We were a very small business; maybe he went after a bigger fish - I don't know.