Techdirt is reporting that Apple has settled their video streaming patent problems with Burst.com for the low low price of $10 million (USD). This comes in addition to the $60 million they wrestled away from Microsoft. "Burst's secret sauce is that there is no secret sauce. Burst's patent describes 'faster than real time' streaming. There's simply nothing novel or innovative about this; it's perfectly obvious that if you've got a fat enough pipe, you can download video faster than you play it, buffering the difference. Buffering isn't a new 'technology,' it's a common-sense programming technique that has been used for decades. In a sensible patent system, Burst would have been laughed out of the patent office for claiming they invented such an obvious concept. But in the upside-down world of the USPTO, filing patents on incredibly obvious concepts can net you tens of millions of dollars."