Personal Audio LLC is what is known as a patent troll- an entity that has patented a very simple idea for the sole purpose of threatening lawsuits against anyone who uses it and collecting cash settlements. They lay claim to “disseminating media content representing episodes in a serialized sequence” and are suing the makers of podcasts such as “The Adam Carolla Show” and “How Stuff Works,” and would essentially aim to collect and effectively kill podcasting. For profit.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has stepped in, crowdsourcing $76,000 from the public to take Personal Audio LLC down, pointing out that they are not the true inventors of podcasting. Will it work? How can patent trolls be handled as a whole? Kim Horcher and Tim Frisch discuss.
Read more about the Innovation Act of 2013 from the EFF: https://action.eff.org/o/9042/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=9416
Read the EFF’s “Save Podcasting!” page: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/05/help-save-podcasting
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