I'd like to sell you a license for your AIR (UPDATED)

Several times on this Blog, I have explained what happens when a company wants to create a technology, but a piece of competitor-owned IP stands in the way. That company either innovates around the IP, or licenses it. But what happens if you are Apple, and you want to control an industry, but you lack IP rights to do so?

You try to license it anyway!

Is Mountain Lion Apple's Vista?

Microsoft has long been panned for it's previous operating system, Windows Vista, based on reports of instability and incompatibility with legacy hardware and software. It wasn't a bad OS, but it just wasn't much of an upgrade over venerable Windows XP, and it cut ties with a significant portion of the hardware still in operation in user's homes.
Above and beyond that, users just didn't see the point of upgrading, and when they did, they didn't recieve $120 worth of new capabilities.

After reviewing the news today regarding Apple's Mac OSX 10.8 (isn't that redundant, by the way?), one has to ask, is Mountain Lion Apple's Vista?

RE: Nilay on The Verge- Leave copyright laws alone. Change enforcement.

The Verge is a fantastic website and I suggest everyone read it for information not just on technology in general, but also on tech policy and law. During the recent SOPA/PIPA demonstrations, The Verge's Managing Editor, Nilay Patel, explained why his parent company Vox and The Verge are opposed to SOPA, he ends by stating,

...we need to preserve the power of communities, like the Vox Media communities, by explicitly expanding fair use to encompass a wide range of legitimate uses that do not erode the market for the original works: commentary, criticism, parody, remix.

This doesn't make a lot of sense to me, since protection for these sort of works is already baked into copyright law, both in statutes and in the case law. It's asking the law to expand and encompass things that it already does.

PIPA/SOPA much ado about nothing- DOJ/Megaupload is the news

This week,copyright law was in the forefront of most major news outlets for the first time in years (really since the Jammie Thomas-Rasset decision). Unfortunately, though the SOPA/PIPA debate is important, and worth educating the public about, it is not the real story of the week in IP law.

What the news outlets failed to cover was the shutdown of uber-site MegaUpload by the Department of Justice for criminal copyright infringement.

The Privacy Payment: Libraries vs CIQ

If you have not heard of CarrierIQ (aka CIQ), then you should read up on the whole situation ASAP. After all, Al Franken has gotten involved!

Essentially, it boils down to this: when it comes to our privacy, what are we willing to give up in exchange for the services we use every day?

Biology and Law: reductionist brothers separated at birth?

I am a bit of an oddity. As a soon-to-be lawyer, my undergraduate degrees are in Biology, and my history in the natural sciences goes WAY back. As a kid, I used to capture and keep all the bugs, grubs, worms and daddy-longlegs I could. Somewhere along the way I realized that scientific research wasn't for me and decided to go to law school.

While at first blush I likely could not have chosen a more opposite line of work, when I look back I realize that the two areas of study are not so different as they seem.

Software Patents: Why some just don't get it...

Over the last year, there seems to have been an increase in the public awareness in patents, particularly software patents. While there are many reasons for it, I have a feeling that it is largely tied to the increase in incredibly large, visible and 'noisy' patent disputes involving Apple, Samsung and Google.

As a result of this increase in awareness, with no reciprocal increase in understanding of the system, both the American public and the American software industry have begin to ask for patent reform in which software is no longer protectable.

Here's why they are wrong, and why that belief exposes a fundamental naivete of why and how patents work.

The Ultimate in Law and LawSchool Tech

Law School is hard. Surprise! There is a lot to learn and even more to do. This fact alone accounts for the majority of law school dropouts in the first year. However, fear not new/prospective students, technology is on your side!

In this post I will be exploring the perfect technological load-out for new and existing law school students. Including tech do's and don'ts!

Apple 4S:That's how you leave the door open...

A few days ago, I wrote about how the Amazon Kindle Fire is poised to become a hugely successful tablet. It's cheap, has all the features users need, and is immediately understandable by even the least tech-savvy user. With the Fire, Amazon made the $400-$600 Android tablets obsolete and overly expensive non-players.
Today, Apple did the complete opposite.

With the release of the iPhone 4S, Apple has left the door open for competitors to catch up, take over and surpass the most popular smart phone in the world.

Amazon Fire: That's how you change the game

A while back, I posted about the state of the tablet market and why I didn't see myself buying one, despite how much I wanted one. In this post, I did not see anywhere in my workflow, now or in the future, where a tablet could fit. Specifically, I ended saying, "Between the cost of entry, the low value in my work flow, and the incredible value I get from my Droid 2, I just don't see where a tablet fit into my life. "

On Wednesday, Amazon changed that equation with their Kindle-branded "Fire" tablet.

The Many Faces of Fornoff: Advocating for an Oral Argument Skill Class

Being a member of moot court, here at UT, has been a great decision. I have been able to take part in a process of learning, traveling and growth that I don't think you can get anywhere else. Participating in oral advocacy competitions provides the opportunity to make mistakes, to overstep, and to screw up in a setting where the stakes are not as high as they are in a real world.
After all, the best teacher is Prof. Failure.

What I did not anticipate was how valuable it would be to not only participate in these competitions, but also judge them.

Illegal: Student teacher [Facebook] relationships!?

There are a lot of silly laws that remain in effect in America, whether it be on state, city or federal books. We've all heard of them before. For example, in the city where I went to high school, there was a law that made it illegal to walk an alligator down the street. In Michigan.
However, in Missouri, a recently passed bill (Senate Bill 54) will make it illegal for a teacher to 'friend' a student on facebook or any other social network.

As a result, the teachers are suing, claiming the law is unconstitutional, violating the rights of both the students and the teachers. However, in reality, there are practical issues in such a law considering the current integration of social networking and other internet services.

Dear Disney, Just thought you'd like to see this...

While on vacation in Myrtle Beach, SC, I came across this little gem:

Now, if you, like me, immediately thought you saw Capt. Jack Sparrow of Disney's Pirates of the Carribean, I would not be surprised.

Guy-liner? Check. Grey pirate hat and red bandan? Check. Beads and stuff in the hair? Check. Dreds? Check. Mustache (though more forgivable given the genre)? Check.

I hope Dolly Parton got permission!

How to solve IP issues without a lawyer...

It's no secret, lawsuits are expensive, and IP suits are no exception. IP suits between companies are especially costly, and startups are often sunk by such lawsuits. How does a young CEO get creative these days?

The arena!!!

No, seriously, use a video game!

Read this now. Or later. But read it!

If you read one article this year about patents and software, read this one:

http://thisismynext.com/2011/08/11/broken-patent-system/

You will be glad you did.