a system and method ... for preventing unauthorized access to electronic data stored on an electronic device.
It is not known at this time what, if anything, this means for Mojang. Of note, Markus "Notch" Persson has certainly voiced his opinion on the matter, stating that he "will throw piles of money at making sure they don't get a cent". Little else is known about the lawsuit at this time.
Notch has made the lawsuit PDF available for viewing, which you can see by clicking here. He has also posted a detailed write-up on his perspective on software patents - you can view it by clicking here.
Uniloc appears to be suing numerous other gaming producers allegedly violating this patent, including Square Enix, Electronic Arts and others.
Any further specifics of the case will be covered as they develop.
UPDATE: Ric Richardson has posted his views on the situation as well, which you can read by clicking here. It is important to note that Mr. Richardson has had no direct part in the lawsuit of Uniloc vs. Mojang.
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And how do any of those bills allow the US government to sue a company for use of the internet to check a patent?
I'm no expert on patents and patent trolls.. So I'll wait until more news comes in before freaking out. Knowing how the last lawsuit went though it'll be a couple of months to years before it's sorted.
If I was you I'd read the post to see
As I know most of you hate them already heres more reason why to
Quote from Wikipedia
in tl;dr form Uniloc sue every company for their patent and has won 1/3 of all cases (out of 73)
When Uniloc sued Microsoft, Microsoft first won, Uniloc appealed and won, then Another appeal made Microsoft win and then again Uniloc appealed and won.
In other words, Uniloc is needing some lunch money.
district and elsewhere in Texas, including at least claim 107, without the consent or authorization
of Uniloc, by or through making, using, offering for sale, selling and/or importing Android based
applications for use on cellular phones and/or tablet devices that require communication with a
server to perform a license check to prevent the unauthorized use of said application, including,
but not limited to, Mindcraft. "
So you can't torrent "Mindcraft" on the android in texas. Seems legit.
The next problem with patent laws is that in order to keep the patent, you must enforce it. If another company is in any way/shape/form using a technology described in your patent (no matter how obscure) they must purchase a license from the patent holder. Again, another problem with patent laws is that you cant just mail up a company and say "hey, we have a patent on this now, you need to buy a license". No, you are required to file an official suit in court, per patent law. Since law suits and court documentation are public, the media likes to spin things out of control, and leave out important information, like the original application date.
Again, no such thing as "patent trolls", they are required by law to file suits to enforce their patent, otherwise they'll lose it.
Don't feed this troll, let it rot in a pit.
Justice is not blind, it is colorblind to all colors except green. And to everyone calling uniloc shitheads and whatnot, it's the way things (unfortunately) work. Uniloc probably gets all its income from suing. The CEO wanted an extra 1.5 mil bonus, so he decided to sue a crapload of companies.
Patents are worldwide, not just in one country. Except in Japan, where there's fake apple stores all over the place and no one gets sued.
Justice is not blind, it is colorblind to all colors except green. And to everyone calling uniloc shitheads and whatnot, it's the way things (unfortunately) work. Uniloc probably gets all its income from suing. The CEO wanted an extra 1.5 mil bonus, so he decided to sue a crapload of companies.
Why would you tell Ric Richardson to go get hit by a space shuttle when he isnt suing, plus he is an inventor. If you were an inventor, you wouldn't want your stuff blatantly stolen. He is coming from a perspective you cannot understand. While I don't agree with the reason why uniloc is suing, I don't think Ric should be regarded with such disdain because he is saying that you have the right to sue someone who is using your patent. It's just the way things work. Don't be such a **** to people.
When you give someone a way to protect their ideas and don't make clear rules on how to use it, and then give a punishment to infringements of said method as payment to the original person/organization, they're going to think that the payment is a reward/incentive for money-making, exploit that and bend the rules a little bit.
I'm sure copyright has similar issues, as they both protect something, but not nearly as bad as these, for copyright protects actual works, not ways to do things. I know the patent and copyright systems were made to protect works and to encourage making of works, but now it's doing exactly what it tried to avoid.
Also: Mindcraft? Majong? I'm sure those'll probably be ignored as clerical errors and not be found as legitimate issues. I still find it hilarious that Uniloc didn't proofread, though. XP
Anyway:
Trying to monopolize the firewall just isn't going to do it. I'm going to both laugh and cry if these guys actually win the suit.
Again, the whole problem with software patents:
1. The patent system itself makes sense, but as soon as you throw a computer into the mix, nothing works. Nothing makes sense.
2. This is just plain obvious. The first quote as stated in the patent basically defined firewall, and they WON against MICROSOFT because of it!?! WTF?
These guys (hopefully) shouldn't stand a chance against Mojang. If Mojang managed to tie with Bethesda in that lawsuit, they shouldn't have much trouble with these trolls.
Just my opinion on the matter. Feel free to disagree, but I'm with Mojang, despite Uniloc having some victories under their belt.
On a serious note, this idiot will get nothing from the companies he's suing currently, and he'll go out of buisness when they sue him for abuse of process, among other things. Nobody can afford to lose against Mojang, EA, and Square Enix at the same time and then get sued by them. Nobody can.
they didn't even spell Minecraft right.
sounds like bs to me.
The community as a whole needs to do more reading and understanding before being judgmental and certainly needs to turn the hate down a bit. I feel using such a vague patent to serial litigate against every software company you can get your hands on is despicable, but that does not justify hateful speech.
Competition and the sharing of ideas are good. Companies making money and selling useful products are good too. What I can't fathom is how Uniloc was "hurt" by Mojang developing all of their own code in house and selling it.