Here’s a late-breaking item from the Sakai Foundation: In the wake of recent efforts to limit the free and open sharing of innovation for online learning, the Sakai Foundation has retained the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC), an organization directed by Eben Moglen and dedicated to providing advice and legal services to protect and advance […]
edupatents
BECTA to Europe: Don't Panic About the Blackboard Patent (Yet)
I meant to post this yesterday but the day got away from me. A reader asked me to call your attention to this announcement from the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA): 1)Patents are valid only in the jurisdictions in which they are granted. The US patent granted to BBI will not have any […]
Why Desire2Learn CEO John Baker is Our Hero
While most folks paying attention to the Blackboard patent scandal have sympathy for Desire2Learn, I’m not sure how many people realize just how altruistic the company is being by fighting the patent. From a purely financial perspective, it is clearly in D2L’s interest to settle and pay a royalty, even though doing so would harm […]
Still Looking for Prior Art Info on Prometheus
If you have any info on the early days of Prometheus, including when it was built and what its features set was on or before June 1998, please post it to the Wikipedia page. This could be quite important.
Tim O'Reilly Picks Up the Blackboard Story
Word keeps spreading in successively broader circles. Meanwhile, if you are following this issue and have not yet subscribed to Al Essa’s blog, do yourself a favor and do so right away. His series of posts dissecting the patent continue to edify.
Is Prometheus a Big Problem for Blackboard?
I’ve been thinking lately about the fact that almost none of the prior art listed in the Wikipedia entry was in Blackboard’s patent filing. It’s remarkable, really, since they are legally obligated to list any potential prior art of which they are aware at the time of filing. Failing to do so would constitute fraud. […]
Conversation with My Own Imaginary Spinmeister
Me: Blackboard has an imaginary spinmeister! Oh NO! Spinmeister: Oh, that guy. I wouldn’t worry too much about him. He was Joe Lieberman’s imaginary spinmeister. He’s not exactly the sharpest imaginary pencil in the imaginary box, if you know what I mean. Me: But…their imaginary spinmeister said that this will all just blow over if […]