[x-pubpol] EFF Launches Full-Court Press To Bust Podcasting Patent

[Joly MacFie]

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*From:* eff-all
[mailto:eff-all-bounces at eff.org<https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&to=eff-all-bounces@eff.org>]
*On Behalf Of *EFF Press
*Sent:* Thursday, May 30, 2013 11:56 AM
*To:* presslist at eff.org<https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&to=presslist@eff.org>
*Subject:* EFF Launches Full-Court Press To Bust Podcasting Patent****

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Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release****

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For Immediate Release: Thursday, May 30, 2013****

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Contact:****

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Julie Samuels****

  Staff Attorney and The Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents****

  Electronic Frontier Foundation****

  julie at eff.org
<https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&to=julie@eff.org>****

  +1 415 436-9333 x112****

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Daniel Nazer****

  Staff Attorney****

  Electronic Frontier Foundation****

  daniel at eff.org
<https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&to=daniel@eff.org>****

  +1 415 436 9333 x149****

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EFF Launches Full-Court Press To Bust Podcasting Patent  ****

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Campaign Will Use Crowd-Power and New Law to Invalidate ****

Patent Trolls’ Claim  ****

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San Francisco - The patent trolls have gone far enough: ****

Starting today, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is ****

mounting a new, focused campaign to bust the dangerous ****

patent that a Texas company has been using to shakedown ****

podcasters.  EFF intends to challenge the original grant of ****

that patent before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by ****

proving that the company, Personal Audio, did not really ****

invent anything new. ****

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Claiming it owns the patent that broadly covers podcasting ****

technology, Personal Audio is the classic example of a ****

patent troll that neither makes nor sells anything, but ****

uses its patent as a weapon to threaten lawsuits and extort ****

settlement fees.  This particular troll has bullied ****

prominent podcasts and podcasters, including How Stuff ****

Works and Adam Carolla, in addition to smaller podcasters ****

working out of their own homes. ****

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"Patent trolls have been wreaking havoc on innovative ****

companies for some time now," said EFF Staff Attorney Julie ****

Samuels, who also holds the Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate ****

Stupid Patents.  "But this particular breed of ****

troll--targeting end users, small businesses, startups, and ****

even individuals like podcasters for simply using everyday ****

products--is a disturbing new threat." ****

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EFF is partnering with the Cyberlaw Clinic at Harvard's ****

Berkman Center for Internet and Society to use a new legal ****

tool against this patent called the "inter partes review," ****

which was introduced by the America Invents Act.  The first ****

step is to identify "prior art," or published examples of ****

similar or identical ideas, that existed before October 2, ****

1996.  EFF is putting out a call today to the podcasting ****

community to spread the word and help us collect the prior ****

art we need to fight this dangerous patent.  EFF is also ****

looking for financial support to take on this challenge, ****

which--even with pro bono help--will likely cost nearly ****

$30,000. ****

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"A podcaster working out of a garage is unlikely to have ****

the financial resources to fight a lawsuit," said EFF Staff ****

Attorney Daniel Nazer.  "Patent trolls like Personal Audio ****

know this and use the threat of ruinous litigation costs as ****

a weapon.  Defeating this patent at the PTO would put an ****

end to Personal Audio's campaign." ****

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Because of the deep and systemic problems in the American ****

patent system, EFF is spearheading the Defend Innovation ****

project to advocate for reform.  EFF is asking the public ****

to sign on to our petition at defendinnovation.org and to ****

comment on seven recommended proposals we think would make ****

the broken system work better for software.  In the ****

meantime, EFF is doing its best to rid the world of one ****

more bad patent in the hands of a patent troll and help out ****

podcasters who find themselves staring down the barrel of a ****

gun. ****

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For more on the Save Podcasting campaign:****

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/05/help-save-podcasting ****

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For technical details of the search for prior art:****

http://patents.stackexchange.com/questions/3884/call-for-prior-art-system-for-disseminating-media-content-representing-episodes
****

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Donate to fund this campaign:****

https://supporters.eff.org/donate/save-podcasting ****

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For this release:****

https://www.eff.org/press/releases/eff-launches-full-court-press-bust-podcasting-patent****

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About EFF****

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The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading ****

organization protecting civil liberties in the digital ****

world. Founded in 1990, we defend free speech online, fight ****

illegal surveillance, promote the rights of digital ****

innovators, and work to ensure that the rights and freedoms ****

we enjoy are enhanced, rather than eroded, as our use of ****

technology grows. EFF is a member-supported organization. ****

Find out more at https://www.eff.org. ****

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    -end-****




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