Re: [hylafax-users] Problem on the Patent Front

[Steve Underwood <steveu@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Lee Howard wrote:

> Steve Underwood wrote:
>
> > Hylafax has no problems with these patents. It is how you might use 
> > HylaFAX, rather than HylaFAX itself which count put you in a position 
> > of infringement.
>
>
>
> Are you sure about this?
>
> While it's true that the Supreme Court recently ruled against Grokster 
> because Grokster had taken affirmative steps to foster infringement.  
> As HylaFAX solicits fax-to-email capability, as the code makes doing 
> so trivial in configuration, and as the community discusses it 
> frequently, I'm not sure that there's a clear "safe zone" in which 
> HylaFAX resides.
>
> Whether or not the patents are anything less silly than patenting 
> frozen juice bars is questionable, yet nonetheless the patents do 
> exist, and that gives the holder every right to sue whomever they may 
> see infringing upon their Congress-approved monopoly on the so-called 
> invention.

I see where you are coming from (i.e. the doctor specialising in 
paranoia :-) ), however that case involved copyright infringement. 
Patents have a more solid basis than copyright for what is and is not 
allowed. However, the US courts seems to be making law up as they go 
along these days, so who knows. The snag is with a really paranoid 
attitude you never do anything wrong by simply never doing anything at 
all. :-\

Steve


____________________ HylaFAX(tm) Users Mailing List _______________________
 To subscribe/unsubscribe, click http://lists.hylafax.org/cgi-bin/lsg2.cgi
On UNIX: mail -s unsubscribe hylafax-users-request@xxxxxxxxxxx < /dev/null
 *To learn about commercial HylaFAX(tm) support, mail sales@xxxxxxxxx*