Oops, I have to correct myself on that. It appears that that was a different patent which patents multitouch with a second gesture.

The patent appears to cover multi-finger gestures but, only in conjunction with a follow-up gesture (http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/13/apple-awarded-limited-patent-on-pinch-to-zoom/) Thanks to http://slashdot.org/~dhammond for pointing that out.

Thank you. It would seem that that patent would be easily avoided if you don't have the second contact after a period of time. In other words, pinch to zoom itself is not patented by Apple. It's only in conjunction with the second contact. I wasn't even aware of a second contact gesture in my Galaxy S. I wonder if the jury mis-understood the patent?

"Appeal"

First of all, there was clear prior art which the Jury ignored or misunderstood.

Second of all, the Jury was clear that the amount of the damages was "to send a signal". Patent damages cannot be punitive.

Thirdly, since there are estimated to tbe 250,000 patents involved in the making of a smart phone, the value of 7 cannot be 1 billion dollars, even if they are of higher value that others.

Finally, a patent for a rectangle with rounded corners? Really? That won't hold up in appeal. Sorry.

Would if kill you to click on the link? Sheesh!

This may be true, but all they need to do is find a sympathetic jury and I doubt that would be difficult here.

I agree. They did what they were paid to do and when they found no threat they let him on the plane. In my opionion, the issue is with Delta and specifically the pilot.

You're probably right, which is a sad state of affairs, but they had already taken his money with the agreement to provide the service he paid for. He had not broken any laws or even the terms of the agreement. It's not that I think it was smart what he did. When I went to East Germany in 1987 I made sure I didn't wear an anti-communism t-shirt at the border. The sad thing is, we are now doing and allowing the things we used to decry with the former Soviet Block.

I see you didn't read the article.

Where did he go out of his way to be a jackass? He expressed his opinion with using offensive words or directing it at anyone in particular. When asked he changed his shirt so that short-sighted passengers would feel comfortable. Please explain.

I think the US holds the lead in libel laws (Hot Coffee at McDonalds, etc).

I really hope we can dial it back but once power is granted as we did in the "Patriot" Act it is rarely given up. But we've done it before and perhaps we can do it again.

You see the depth of the problem we are dealing with here? It's sad because the US would have so much going for it and really has done so much for science, space, medicine and quality of life. It was a great place to grow up in the 70's but it's really heading in a bad direction now.

Thank You for your compassion.

Unfortunately, things are already truly out of control.

Thank you!

Gives the term Blue Screen of Death new meaning ,-)