IMPA and ACACIA FAQ

[Far-L]

We are working hard to get the IMPA site up and if there are any questions that people would like to see answered in our FAQs then please ask them in this thread and we will be sure to address them.

We thank you for your patience while we get this put together. I know many are concerned and would like more information. We have to make sure that we post accurate and helpful information to the community so we have a great deal of work to make sure we are doing things right.

http://www.impai.org

[lagwagon]

have you eaten anymore tie fighter sandwiches like the one at the bbq?

really though, i am looking foward to donating and helping out as i am sure that a lot of people really should. do you have estimates on the costs that you are going to accrue for this?

[TDF]

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[m0rph3us]

What are the effects of the patents on Canadians and how is Acacia planning to enforce their patents in Canada?

[sexeducation]

That interview with Acacia and D$ of Xbiz can you please post a link to where to get it on the IMPAI.org site?

[fiveyes]

How, specifically, does the way we present video on the internet infringe on the Acacia patent claims (apparently an answer was given by Mr. Berman at the start of the D-Money Show but I wasn't able to receive it nor is it available in the archive)?

What discussions/behavior on public forums could possibly jeaprodize the IMPA's chances in court and should be avoided (ie. specifics about prior art findings, boycott organizing, etc.)?

For those of us not directly involved in IMPA but who wish to contribute other resources besides money (or may simply be unable to contribute to any cause other than the landlord at the moment!), is there a means to donate time, labor and skills?

Does IMPA welcome independent (possible) prior art submissions?

[Gutterboy]

An FAQ is a great idea

[gothweb]

If we get a warning, and remove videos, are we covered, or will they go after us for past use?

[gothweb]

What's the breakdown on the $19,000 they made this quarter? I'd love to know who paid them. Imagine how much better this would look if they still had $0 revenue.

[Va2k]

Show us the proof hehe as stated on the D show yesterday by that nitwit
TOM

[jimmyf]

Originally posted by gothweb
What's the breakdown on the $19,000 they made this quarter? I'd love to know who paid them. Imagine how much better this would look if they still had $0 revenue.

what would be even better is if they get audited and the SEC finds a mini Enron. Anyone know someone with the SEC

[sexeducation]

What is ACACIA doing with regards to the many Universities which are currently transmitting compressed video?

[oldnewbie]

Is Acacia going after webmasters who merely link to other people's sites who have video, such as a paid plug-in, but have no video hosted on their own site? If so, how are they justifying this, since no actual streaming occurs from the webmaster's site?

[Honeyslut]

How can they ask for a percentage of my total earnings when the majority of the cost to operate my paysites is the PICTURE content that I buy ?

[BV]

Originally posted by oldnewbie
Is Acacia going after webmasters who merely link to other people's sites who have video, such as a paid plug-in, but have no video hosted on their own site? If so, how are they justifying this, since no actual streaming occurs from the webmaster's site?

he said plugin companies dont need to pay (unless they have video samples available for download on their site then they will need a different type of license)

he said the person buying the plugin will be paying with a webmaster license.

[Far-L]

Here are some quick responses representing my opinions in response to the questions in the thread. These are my opinions.

* Anyone doing business in the US is responsible to obey the laws of the US regardless of whether you are in Canada or "Offshore".

* Yes Acacia has served Online University Programs.

* In my opinion the patents are invalid.

* In my opinion, the claim construction is unclear; hence I am unsure if Acacia will go after you for stuff that you took down.

* In my opinion, I encourage everyone to be very professional.

* In my opinion, The SEC and FTC are free to investigate Acacia if they consider it necessary, but my focus is on the patent invalidation.

* In my opinion, the IMPA is a struggling new organization and will certainly appreciate and accept help with many different issues.

* In my opinion, when the site goes up it will have a treasure trove of links on the issues we are committed to.

* Prior should not be sent to the IMPA. Prior Art can be sent to [email protected]

* In my opinion, Patent litigation is costly and it is possible expenses could be from 2.5 to 5 million dollars and up.

[venus]

We meet with a registered patent attorney tomorrow at 1pm, the only question we have for him is if it applies to us or anyone we purchase content from.
I told him about ACACIA saying that they had 34 mil in the bank and it would be best for people to sign and not litigate, he said he dont give a damn how much money they have, if the patent does not apply then it dont apply and 34 mil has nothing to do with it. There isnt anything they can do if it does not apply. period.

so will let you all know what he says.

[venus]

ya we dont understand this one, if we buy content from someone, we assume its licensed by the provider and free of litigation on our part. Its pretty screwy to purchase something from someone and then someone else tells you buy the way, you can buy it from them, but you have to buy a second right to use it from us. this isnt right anyway you look at it.
in my opinion.
the provider is suppose to have all licenses prior to be able to lease/sell it so I dont know how ACACIA can try to make someone pay twice for the same thing.

Originally posted by BV


he said plugin companies dont need to pay (unless they have video samples available for download on their site then they will need a different type of license)

he said the person buying the plugin will be paying with a webmaster license.

[Groove]

An FAQ would be a great help

Here's some questions:

What countries is the patent registered in?

How confident are you that the patent is invalid and why (details please)?

Are there any examples of similar patents being invalidated?

How long is the court case likely to run?

When does the patent expire?

What are the likely consequences of not signing Acacia's contract?

What legal assistance if any can IMPA offer webmasters being sued by Acacia?

Is it true that Acacia may be able to garnish payments from a processor or bank if an offshore company refuses to pay?

[Sausage]

I would appreciate an IMPA response to the claims and points made yesterday that IMPA was misleading webmasters etc. Berman made quite a number of points that undermined IMPA. Would be great to see those points answered.

[goBigtime]

Yeah, in my opinion, Berman made it sound like the IMPA was getting worked over by F&R (The law firm representing the defense group)...

BUT the thing to remember here is this will be a HIGH PROFILE case to some degree.

You think F&R would want to fight something that they knew was a losing situation just so they could suck up a million in their clients finances?

I don't think they would have taken the case if they didn't think they had something.

[Far-L]

Give me a day or two on those latest questions... I am just about out the door to head to Florida...

One thing I will say...

In my opinion, Berman turned around completely on demands made in their initial claims. Therefore he can easily characterize me as providing misleading information.

In my opinion, the length he went to characterize us as unprofessional and uninformed demonstrates his lack of merit and substance.

In my opinion, character attacks and frivolous additional lawsuits only further point to his lack of faith in the patents.

I will get to those other questions asap.

[FiReC]

Originally posted by lagwagon
have you eaten anymore tie fighter sandwiches like the one at the bbq?

really though, i am looking foward to donating and helping out as i am sure that a lot of people really should. do you have estimates on the costs that you are going to accrue for this?

being a star wars geek i can't help but ask what the hell is a tie fighter sandwich?

[Groove]

This one deserves a bump

[rogerbo]

O.k. here is a link to the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure which does Fight the Software Patenting in Europe in General.
You may find some helpfull info for the fight against Acacia
http://www.ffii.org/

You'll find also the link to the European version of the claimed Patent
http://swpat.ffii.org/pikta/txt/ep/0566/662/

[Johny Traffic]

I have a question for you on a personal matter, how is this fight going to personally effect you and your business?

It seems to me that you might suffer, when the big boys in the end will benefit, isnt there a way we can drag them into the fight?

[<IMX>]

When you win, how much are you going to hold Berman personally liable for ;)

[sexeducation]

Originally posted by Sausage
I would appreciate an IMPA response to the claims and points made yesterday that IMPA was misleading webmasters etc. Berman made quite a number of points that undermined IMPA. Would be great to see those points answered.

double that ...
How about a transcript of the D$ interview?


bump

[sexeducation]

Originally posted by Groove
This one deserves a bump

Okay ... there website has not changed for weeks.
Plural ...

They just don't have time. Or it could be to "risky" for them legally?

Let's start a contest ...for the best logo ...?

My FAQ question is - will people having corporate boardroom meetings - virtually - all have to negotiate with Acacia?

I'm confused. : (


bump

[joshuawk]

First off.

I need some DMT. Far-l can yhou hook me up?

IS everyone in this industry getting personally signed letters
from Acacia or just bigger sites?

I got another one last week from someone saying I could have a private meeting with them at Internext.

I don't even run any paysites.

Does this mean I'm on a small list or are they sending thousands upon thousands of these letters out?

I threw the first one away.

[buzzard]

looking over the DMT patent it appears all acacia has done is to take a series of Processes and group them together as a Technology. This is not much different than getting a patent on a certain route to drive your car to the store. A very weak patent it would be.
am i wrong?
or maybe i should start patenting keystrokes and hotkeys.
Damn good idea....You all owe me 2 CENTS everytime you use the ENTER key when you post a reply to this board.
As soon as i get the patent that is.

[sexeducation]

I went to see if the IMPAI.org site was down ...
I'm in Calgary - is it down for anyone else?
or is Shaws DNS screwing up again?

[posh rat in hell]

Acacia sucks

[Que?]

I have patented crapping.

Now prepare to squeeze yur butt real hard or I will sue your...


yeah, yeah i got the flashy pakage as well

[Nathan]

hey,

it seems to me the main problem here is that a lot of people do not understand how patents work.

The point of a patent is to get something for yourself that you had the idea for first. If you register an idea of a process like they did before such a process was ever done by someone else you have a patent. Even if someone else had the same idea, you are the person that registered it first, so you got it.

Now, having the idea gives you one simple right: You can do whatever the heck you want with it and deny ANYONE using your idea to use it. Or you can ask them to pay money to use it. Of course no silly amounts I guess, but still, you can basically deceide HOW you want to make money of it. Logically Acacia chose to make money from the best point possible, the webmaster. Because they are the ones making the most money. Why get a Content provider to license a process for streaming video just because they HAVE video for sale. They are not streaming it, they do not have to pay. Also, why ask them to pay money when ACACIA perfectly knows that webmasters buy their stuff and make a profit from it, logically it makes more sense to ask money from the webmaster then.

As far as I understand there are basically two ways to protect against such Patents. You have to find either Prior Art or convince the courts that the Patent is too broad and is therefor not really a unique idea that should be patentable.

Prior Art simply put would be anything that was used or done before the patent was issued or filed that fits a patent claim. That prior art would invalidate the claim. This basically means, if we can prove that before 1992 there was someone out there that had a video on a FTP server and let people download it then ACACIA can not make you pay for doing that. I am not sure if it would also invalidate their claim on letting people download stuff from a web server, but I'm quite sure it would.
So probably it would remove any of their rights to ask people that offer Videos for download in any form, be it via the Web or via FTP or usenet or email, for licensing fees. So in my oppinion this should be no problem to remove from their patents.

The HARDER thing to find will be STREAMING video. It is not going to be easy to find prior art that streamed video from one place to another through the internet before 1992. But then again, a lot of universities out there, so it could very well be found.

But there is stuff from around 1980 that MIGHT be even possible to invalidate the streaming part, but I have to investigate that some more.

This all of course is just my oppinion and I am no lawyer and am not giving any advice.

[Mr.Fiction]

Originally posted by Nathan


But there is stuff from around 1980 that MIGHT be even possible to invalidate the streaming part, but I have to investigate that some more.

Glad you're working on it! Make sure to contact Homegrown directly when you find something. Don't post it here or Acacia will see it.

People need to keep researching this and see what can be found prior to the patent filing.

[SykkBoy]

Originally posted by Mr.Fiction


Glad you're working on it! Make sure to contact Homegrown directly when you find something. Don't post it here or Acacia will see it.

People need to keep researching this and see what can be found prior to the patent filing.

I've already sent Spike a few things and am busy looking for more...

[Ice]

FUCK acacia

[fiveyes]

Originally posted by rogerbo
O.k. here is a link to the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure which does Fight the Software Patenting in Europe in General.
You may find some helpfull info for the fight against Acacia
http://www.ffii.org/

You'll find also the link to the European version of the claimed Patent
http://swpat.ffii.org/pikta/txt/ep/0566/662/

Very interesting site, thanks for sharing it!

[Scootermuze]

Originally posted by Nathan
.......

The point of a patent is to get something for yourself that you had the idea for first. If you register an idea of a process like they did before such a process was ever done by someone else you have a patent.

........

That's part of the whole fiasco....

It wasn't their idea... They simply bought the business that held the patent, and this was done for no other reason than to make money off of it.

[fantasyman]

Look at http://avnonline.com

[BradShaw]

Ron, so now you are suing Acacia for not living up to confidentiality agreement? The cynic in me thinks this all could be orchestrated. Damage control.

[fantasyman]

Originally posted by BradShaw
Ron, so now you are suing Acacia for not living up to confidentiality agreement? The cynic in me thinks this all could be orchestrated. Damage control.

Brad I'm not suing anyone. I don't own TradeNews Corp and have never signed a license.

[boobmaster]

Originally posted by Far-L


* Yes Acacia has served Online University Programs.

Now THAT is a total fucking JOKE! Most companies which develop software recognize the importance of education and will usually offer licenses to educational institutions at drastically lower rates. A lot of times it's free for universities.

I'd be interested in knowing how much Acacia is asking from Universities. Most of them are subsidized by the states.

Can these fuckers be any more GREEDY?

Every thime I open an Acacia thread my blood pressure goes through the roof!

[ckm]

Since Que? already patented crapping, I'll patent explosive diarrhea... I'll be fair and not come after you for patent infringement only if you spray that shit at acacia...

But seriously, I think it's stupid they are going after people even if they are offering video compressed in zip files. Zipped files are not video. It can't be played in any kind of player until it is extracted from the zip. Maybe I should offer videos compressed in a zip and then turn it into a self-extracting executable. What are they going to do now? Come after me for offering .exe files?

[BradShaw]

Ron I understand you no longer own, but you appear to still run the show from an outsiders perspective.

[Zoe]

Originally posted by m0rph3us
What are the effects of the patents on Canadians and how is Acacia planning to enforce their patents in Canada?

They are attemping to sue Canadian companies.......which is basically a scare tactic.......

Cuz they "have no patent here".

[sexeducation]

Do you need a lawyer to post links to both sides of the issue?
I don't see any changes to the site yet.
IMPAI.org

[venus]

Actually, it dont have to be only the internet.
I dont know when they were first used, but video phones have been around a long time. they transmit video through a phone line, as per the patent claim of Acacia

Originally posted by Nathan
hey,

The HARDER thing to find will be STREAMING video. It is not going to be easy to find prior art that streamed video from one place to another through the internet before 1992. But then again, a lot of universities out there, so it could very well be found.

[fiveyes]

Here's a question that came to mind just now:

<B>Is IMPA merely a front for some group opposing the Acacia patent(s)?</B>

The reason I ask this is that there seems to be a (rarely challanged) belief that this is so. The title of this thread even subtly implies it. However, looking at http://www.avn.com/articles/11795.html, I encounter this warning paragraph (emphasis added):

"DMT isn't the only technology by which Acacia has stepped toward what its critics call "profit by litigation." The company also acquired the V-Chip technology when it bought out SoundView Technologies. Almost immediately, Acacia launched similar patent-infringement claims involving the V-Chip, according to the Orange County Register. Those claims led to more than a dozen television manufacturers paying the one-time licensing fee, filling Acacia?s coffers with some $24.1 million in 2001 revenues, the Register said - a whopping jump from $100,000 in revenue the year before. Other television manufacturers went to court - and Acacia lost. The Register said in December that <I>the company is working an antitrust case claiming the winning manufacturers "colluded" to duck V-Chip licensing fees.</I>"

In other words, this pack of lawyers called Acacia has a bad habit of going after those that have successfully won the first round. I certainly wouldn't want to see the good people involved in this fight set themselves up for a needlessly protracted battle...