Blackboard, Copyright, and Patents

Al Essa has a great post up that covers the basic differences between a copyright and a patent as well as laying the groundwork for a dissection of Blackboard’s claims (presumably forthcoming). In the meantime, I am in the process of translating the 44 claims in their patent into plain English. When you see what they are actually claiming to have invented, you will be well and truly gobsmacked. I’ll post it as soon as some colleagues who are smarter than I am have proofread it for me.