IRREPAIRABLE DAMAGE (Score 1)

I have been a longtime customer and supporter of Blackboard. They have very good technology which is often a lot better and always a lot cheaper to run and support than open-source alternatives, like Sakai or Moodle.

However, this ridiculous patent business and the subsequent D2L lawsuit make me sick:

• the patent itself is absurd and I can't see it not being revoked
• Blackboard's actions have caused serious irrepairable damage to the company, further alineating potential customers, disgruntled WebCT clients and even serious affecting their relationship with most existing customers.
• Instead of trying to earn the trust of the industry, after the WebCT buyout, and showing that they are a good company, they are showing a greedy and disgusting face, confirming that they just might be that evil bully monopolistic company that many open-source brain-washed and competing products people have been claiming Blackboard is or could be.
• Blackboard has embarrased all existing customers and put them in an ackward and very negative position. This will hurt Blackboard big time in the not-to-distant future.
• Blackboard has shown that they will use whatever means available to dominiate the market, instead of concentrating in wining the business on their good technology and the real lower cost of ownership and the pedagogical value Blackboard bring to educational institutions. They should invest in their technological talent and good product line, and not in lawsuits and ludicrous ill-awarded patents.
• When is Blackboard going to learn and understand how the educational industry and community is? How could a bunch of very smart Blackboard executives have not foreseen the backslash? How could they not see that this is not the way we like to do business nor the way we like to pick our software suppliers, vendors and partners?

Blackboard should seriously consider scrapping this whole embarrasing action, the stupidest thing they have ever done, fire those responsible for aggitating the company into pursuit this dementia and appologize to the entire educational community.I wish they could be severly punished for this action, but still be given one more opportunity to survive as a company.

As a longtime Blackboard customer and supporter, I am truly angry and disappointed.