I’d like to comment on this issue but I’m afraid I’ll be subpoenaed. This is very troubling, but whenever I read someone using a tactic like this I think. I’ll bet that we could use this tactic against someone else. Of course if it doesn’t work, then it’s not as valuable. I think about learning of these things like zero day exploits. Useful at first until someone figures out how to stop them.
I get the spirit of what you’re saying but ultimately if the law is such a mess that it can be gamed to inflict mischievous harm upon a target then learning to use it back should be secondary to getting it fixed.
I’ve been somewhat following this patent troll when I heard NPR interview a spokesperson (maybe the guy who got the original patent?). In the interview the guy talked about making audio tapes and mailing them off to subscribers and what a novel idea that was that he got a patent for it in the mid to late 90s. (Wish I could remember the date of the patent.)
The funny thing is that with my LaQuinta frequent traveler membership I used to get a cassette tape to listen to once a quarter while I played road warrior in the early 90s. It had inspirational chats with Zig Ziglar, games, and road warrior tips. It was more podcast like than what this guy put out much later in the 90s. Not to mention his patent steps on the fact that long distance romances, families w/ members in the military, and grandparents the world over have been mailing audio back and forth ever since the reel to reel.
Back in the cassette era there was a magazine on sale in WHSmiths on the great composers. They did a different composer every month and every episode came with a cassette.
Only the first few episodes went on sale in Smiths, the idea was to get people to subscribe by mail. Here is a collection.
It dates back to 1985 and was sold by Marshall Cavendish. They probably sold about half a million copies at least. It was a very well established model.
Here is an EBay item with a CD
As it happens I work as an expert witness in patent cases.
Arrange for the untimely deaths of patent trolls and then see how popular it is as a profession.
I wonder if anything came out of that revelation on Marc Maron’s podcast with Moon Zappa about Frank Zappa “inventing” podcasting in the late 80s (a quote from his Real Frank Zappa book). Love to know if he actually patented the idea.
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