Guerilla Webfare
The nonprofit World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has posted a public plea on the Internet for information it needs to overturn a patent held by one of its members, Intermind, that covers methods of exchanging metadata (data about data) over networks. The patent covers parts of the W3C’s new protocol for protecting the personal information of Web users, known as P3P. The standards body wants P3P freely adopted; Intermind wants royalties from users.
W3C’s officers launched an assault on the patent using a Web page that urges readers to search for and submit prior art-papers, memos, anything that could show Intermind wasn’t the first to come up with the metadata scheme. If prior art is found, the patent could be declared invalid. There’s precedent for the patent-busting tactic. Last year, Netscape Communications used an Internet appeal to help beat back a lawsuit from Wang Laboratories. “It can only work if you have a willing group of searchers,” says Alan Fisch, a litigator with Howrey & Simon in Washington, D.C. “But there is no shortage of people who find software patents counterproductive.”
Keep Reading
Most Popular
A Roomba recorded a woman on the toilet. How did screenshots end up on Facebook?
Robot vacuum companies say your images are safe, but a sprawling global supply chain for data from our devices creates risk.
A startup says it’s begun releasing particles into the atmosphere, in an effort to tweak the climate
Make Sunsets is already attempting to earn revenue for geoengineering, a move likely to provoke widespread criticism.
10 Breakthrough Technologies 2023
These exclusive satellite images show that Saudi Arabia’s sci-fi megacity is well underway
Weirdly, any recent work on The Line doesn’t show up on Google Maps. But we got the images anyway.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.