Re: [mv] Amazon (Patent) US5960411: Method and system for placingapurchase order via a communications

[Birgitt Funk <birgitt@booktraders.com>]

On Fri, 17 Dec 1999, Mike Heins wrote:

> To everyone,
> 
> Simply don't worry about all this.
> 
> We will be near the last of the list to be sued. The suit with Barnes
> & Noble will have to be resolved first, and we can adapt then in the
> unlikely event that Amazon wins and the patent is found to be valid.

They won the first round: 

	http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-1476392.html?
	       tag=st.ne.1002.thed.1005-200-1476392

Gee, I lost my half penny I bet, darn...

and now not only Eric Raymond, but also Richard Stallmann opens his
mouth:

	http://x46.deja.com/=fg/getdoc.xp?AN=562429480.2&search=thread
	&CONTEXT=945573513.631111750&HIT_CONTEXT=945573447.632094737&hitnum=0

and apparently the World Wide Web Consortium in another case
got even more serious:

	http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,21726-2,00.html
	http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/19452.html

So, if the WWW Consortium asks for volunteers to fight a patent
(awarded to Intermind with regards to P3P)
	quote:
	"We will ask people in the Web community if they
         know of technology that was already out there
         before [Intermind] claims to have invented it,"
         ^^^^^^
         said Daniel J. Weitzner, leader of W3C's
         technology and society domain." 

I take that it is a serious issue. It will not go away. May be
it shouldn't go away either. 

Birgitt Funk

> 
> For everyone's information, MiniVend first had this same type of feature
> in February 1996, though in my opinion it simply doesn't matter. IANAL,
> but the Amazon "patent" is in my opinion completely indefensible.
> 
> -- 
> Mike Heins                          http://www.minivend.com/  ___ 
>                                     Internet Robotics        |_ _|____
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