UK firm patents software downloads

GristyMcFisty used our news submit to tell us "When will this Patent insanity end, you cannot Patent software downloads, because there"s nothing to Patent. This is no different from the folks at BT trying to Patent Hyperlinks. Somone for god sake put these morons out of business...perhaps Patent rules need changing to reflect the fact that if the Patent is applied for after "software downloads" in this case have been in use then no one gets to patent it..."

A British company with a history of taking on larger rivals says it owns six patents affecting software downloads. The claim comes from British Technology Group (BTG), which is in the business of turning inventors" ideas into commercial products. If true, it could mean that dozens of software firms that use the Web to deliver certain kinds of software - including security updates and patches - could be forced to pay royalties to BTG. The company also claims to hold a patent that relates to off-line Internet browsing, another area that could be lucrative in terms of royalty payments. So far, BTG has declined to say which firms could be affected by its claims, although the company says it is in talks with several firms about the matter.

This is not directly related to our realm of optical drives and such, but it sure as heck would have a negative effect on us. Each time we need to update our firmware or download some software or I suppose even a picture, these bloodsuckers would get a bit of money. You can read the whole sordid mess over at the Register. Thanks Gristy!

Source: The Register