ocularb0b - Slashdot User

Submission + - Mandatory cell phone unlocking legislation? 1

Submitted by jedi_gras on Wednesday July 04, 2007 @08:58AM

jedi_gras writes: Post iPhone launch, I'm sitting here twiddling my thumbs wondering if I should buy one. I often travel to different countries and require the use of local SIM cards; currently, there is no way to circumvent the carrier lock and this poses an issue for me. This got me thinking of some legislation proposed by Senator Dean Florez (SB 158) to amend the Public Utilities Code relating to telecommunications (section 2890.2) and provide a "bill of rights" for cell phone users. Included in these amendments is a nice little section regarding the mandatory unlocking of cell phones on request after termination of contract or purchase of a handset. IANAL so I don't know about the process of these things, but if this becomes law, wouldn't that be nice?

Submission + - A simple plan to defeat dumb patents (blogspot.com)

Submitted by

Steve Jones

on Wednesday July 04, 2007 @07:11AM

Steve Jones writes: "With the EU being rumoured to look at software patents again I thought I'd have a look at the root of the problem — the US Patent Office — and work out if there is a simple way to defeat dumb patents, and I think there is... The big thing, as everyone knows, that defeats a patent is prior art, at the Patent Office they have the definition of Prior Art which includes the phrase

"known or used by others in this country, or was patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country"

Which made me think. If every time we have an idea that we think is "obvious" but not done before, or something we think would be interesting (e.g. Using a PVR for targeted ads) but don't have the money to create, then we should always blog about that idea, tag it as "prior art" via Technorati thus giving people an RSS feed.

My argument is that by doing this we can, rightly claim, that the ideas have been described in the 21st Century version of a printed publication, and even if that is challenged, it is undeniable that by using the RSS feed it can be proven that people in a given country could have "known" about it.

I'm fed up thinking "bloody hell I did that ten years ago" or "I thought about doing that, its a bit obvious" when companies with as little intention as I had in developing the idea up start putting the squeeze on businesses and developers. What I've always lacked is the visible proof to submit against a claim. This is a simple suggestion about using the power of the web to create a massive prior art database. IANAL, but surely it can't be this simple?"

Submission + - YouTube Videos Lead To Arrest

Submitted by EzInKy on Wednesday March 28, 2007 @07:50PM

EzInKy writes: An 18 year old high school student was arrested yesterday after investigators received a tip to search YouTube for jbrownhoho. The charges included menacing, criminal mischief, and littering.

Submission + - It's Time for Patent Reform

Submitted by jobowoo on Wednesday March 28, 2007 @06:12PM

jobowoo writes: If you follow the headlines, you may already know that the U.S. Supreme Court will rule shortly in a case that's likely to have big implications for everyone affected by patents. At issue in the case is whether an idea is too obvious to be patented. This may seem esoteric, but intellectual-property issues are striking closer to home for many people and point to the need for patent reform. Full Story

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