The BBC seeks escape from patent minefield (InfoWorld)

The BBC seeks escape from patent minefield (InfoWorld)

Posted Jul 13, 2005 17:05 UTC (Wed) by dmarti (subscriber, #11625)
In reply to: The BBC seeks escape from patent minefield (InfoWorld) by epeeist
Parent article: The BBC seeks escape from patent minefield (InfoWorld)

The proponents of software patents and DRM aren't "giving away" media playing software just so that Bono will hang out with them. The master plan for ventures such as iTunes Music Store only works if the New Middlemen cooperate with the old-line copyright holders long enough to become a critical part of the pipeline, then stab them in the back at the right time.

The long-term interests of any old-line copyright holder lie with the side whose success doesn't depend on replacing them. For the BBC, dealing with the patenteers is like Borland and WordPerfect doing office suites for Microsoft Windows.

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