Desire2Learn Fights eLearning Patent
"Desire2Learn has responded to the patent infringement claim (PDF) cited by
Blackboard Inc. regarding eLearning systems. They have argued that
Blackboard was negligent in not submitting details of prior art with their
patent application, and further alleged that the material described by the
patent was documented in 1998 (PDF) by a collaborative international
organization, IMSprogram.org, which was actually working with Blackboard at
the time."
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/09/15/1347227&from=rss
They also threaten Moodle, which is FOSS.
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
>From Nessuno:
Quote:
------------
Every day, millions of students taking online college courses act in
much the same way as their bricks-and-mortar counterparts. After
logging on, they move from course to course and do things like submit
work in virtual drop boxes and view posted grades - all from a
program running on a PC.
Click to learn more...
It may seem self-evident that virtual classrooms should closely
resemble real ones. But a major education software company contends it
wasn't always so obvious. And now, in a move that has shaken up the
e-learning community, Blackboard Inc. has been awarded a patent
establishing its claims to some of the basic features of the software
that powers online education.
-------------
End quote
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060827/ap_on_hi_te/e_learning_dispute
See also:
http://money.netscape.cnn.com/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1333&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20060827%2F1457575948.htm&sc=1333
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=2362437
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/02/1217219
This may appear to be just a new, obnoxious example of patent trolling
(in this case by Blackboard). However, there are connections between
Blackboard and Microsoft:
http://www.blackboard.com/company/press/release.aspx?id=510542
http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/751121
http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2001/04/23/daily13.html
http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2001/12/04/news/4013.shtml
http://chronicle.com/free/v48/i13/13a02701.htm
Quote:
----------
Charlene A. Douglas isn't surprised that Microsoft wants to get into
the booming business
of online-software systems for higher education, or that it has
recently formed a close alliance with Blackboard, a company whose
software helps colleges put their courses on the Internet....
In what the two companies call a "preferred relationship," Microsoft
will promote Blackboard to its education customers and Blackboard will
suggest that its clients use the Microsoft Windows operating system to
run Blackboard on their servers to take advantage of special features
available only to Microsoft users.
----------
End quote
See also:
http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=98283
|
|
