begin oe_protect.scr
Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
> Patent fight rattles academic computing
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| The patent, awarded to the Washington, D.C.-based company in January
>| but announced last month, has prompted an angry backlash from the
>| academic computing community, which is fighting back in techie fashion --
>| through online petitions and in a sprawling Wikipedia entry that helps
>| make its case.
>|
>| Critics say the patent claims nothing less than Blackboard's ownership
>| of the very idea of e-learning. If allowed to stand, they say, it could
>| quash the cooperation between academia and the private sector that has
>| characterized e-learning for years and explains why virtual classrooms
>| are so much better than they used to be.
>|
>| [...]
>|
>| Why are universities concerned? Many use off-the-shelf systems sold
>| by Blackboard already. But others use rival companies like Desire2Learn,
>| or mix and match to meet their own needs. Because universities are
>| decentralized and have such varied systems, one size rarely fits all,
>| says Feldstein. Many borrow from open-source courseware programs with
>| names like "Moodle" and "the Sakai Project."
> `----
>
> http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060827/ap_on_hi_te/e_learning_dispute
When is the USPTO going to be stopped? It's beyond belief that such a
patent could even be contemplated, let alone granted. Anyone granting
such a thing must be living with their heads in a bucket, or if not,
their heads stuck in a "we're a profit centre" mentality.
I most sincerely hope that the EU avoid making such a fundamentally
ill-informed and potentially ruinous decision.
--
| Mark Kent -- mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk |
No-one would remember the Good Samaritan if he had only had good
intentions. He had money as well.
-- Margaret Thatcher
|
|
