Dylan Hunter

This really is the most disgusting part of a dying tech company. When they can’t actually make a business out of doing what they were supposed to be doing, the investors start getting the IP lawyers to start poking the carcass to see if they can pull a Unisys, (especially on really basic stuff) building themselves an annuity on the backs of those who actually succeed, turning what at least might have passed into history as something to have once been proud of into a future plague.

It really is sad to see this kind of ridiculous IP protection, especially on the Internet, used by bottom-feeders who fail against those who succeed, (especially for this kind of really stupid common sense ones) or, in this case, use as a method to try to force someone with a useful social network asset to buy Friendster out for the patent, when the business itself couldn’t justify. Here’s hoping that the numerous companies that will receive the soon-to-follow flight of C&D threats do what many of us did with those from Unisys - insert them deeply into the circular file.

P.S. Can you tell that these kind of IP issues really get under my skin?