English: Portrait of Judge Elbert Tuttle, taken by United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, from here. It is a work of the federal judiciary, so it is in the public domain. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Software is like music. Notes can not be patented.
the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that upheld a patent on the idea of using a computer to perform a particular kind of financial transaction. Now, just a couple of weeks later, the same court has reached the opposite conclusion about a patent on using a computer to manage a particular type of life insurance policy. ..... The courts have long ruled that "abstract ideas" and "mental processes" are not eligible for patent protection. And that has implications for the patentability of software. .... Every computer application, no matter how sophisticated, consists of nothing more than "the performance of repetitive calculations." .... At root, the judges of the Federal Circuit appear confused about how computers work
..... the net neutrality camp (which I am very much in) is on its heels .... the era of permissionless innovation that has characterized the first fifteen years of the commercial Internet ....... If we lose Internet Freedom, we won't have any companies we would want to invest in and we'll close up shop and move on with our lives.
Here there is much less of a market force at work as a potential corrective because in many local markets there is only a single broadband provider available and at best most markets have a duopoly.
"The court in no way disagreed with the importance of preserving a free and open Internet, nor did it close the door to other methods for achieving this important end," said FCC spokeswoman Jen Howard........ the idea that Internet providers should treat all forms of Web traffic equally ...... The court's decision prompted calls Tuesday from Democrats and consumer groups for Congress to pass new legislation to give the FCC more authority to police Internet providers. "They may have won the battle only to face a larger war" ...... Republican lawmakers have generally opposed net-neutrality rules. ....... AT&T said the FCC's current net-neutrality principles work and it will continue to abide by them. ....... Verizon Chief Executive Ivan Seidenberg said, it isn't a "slam dunk" that net neutrality is the right policy. ...... Time Warner Cable Inc. said the decision doesn't change its commitment to providing the "high-quality, open Internet experience" its customers expect...... President Obama supports net-neutrality rules
...... Comcast, which has asserted its right to slow its own cable customers' access to file-sharing ........ not an out and out win for Comcast .... there are a number of ways forward from here for the FCC. ..... the Supreme Court might reverse ..... The Supreme Court might disagree. ...... Congress might amend the Federal Communications Act to create a new source of jurisdiction to regulate broadband. To do this one would need at least 60 votes in the Senate. Good luck with that........ under its Title II jurisdiction, the FCC can require open access requirements, which would be even more valuable for purposes of promoting freedom of speech and innovation. ....... the FCC might decide that the better solution is to retrace its steps, correct the mistake it made in 2002, and reassert Title II authority over broadband ..... an FCC that under chairman Genachowski has been a strong Net Neutrality advocate
......it's now official that the FCC has no power to mandate net neutrality or to punish Comcast (even with a gentle wrist slap) for its traffic shaping practices. Lots of people seem upset by this, but they should not be. ......Even if you believe net neutrality is important, allowing the FCC to overstep its defined boundaries is not the best way to deal with it...... Comcast .. should still be punished -- but by the FTC, rather than the FCC -- for misleading its customers about what type of service they were getting, and what the limitations were on those services. As for the FCC, if it really wants a more neutral net, it should focus on making sure that there's real competition in the market, rather than just paying lip service to the idea in its broadband plan.
Net neutrality is the Internet's DNA. This is the Internet Century. Take away free speech and America is just a landmass. Take away net neutrality and the Internet is glorified cable television. It is not the Internet no more.
Net neutrality has received a temporary setback. But the anxieties are very real. Net neutrality is here to stay, but that does not mean there isn't work cut out for the net neutrality enthusiasts, which is pretty much everyone I know.
This judicial decision reminds me of the Supreme Court decision against campaign finance reform a few months back that Obama spoke against in his State Of The Union speech. The judiciary is capable of nonsensical decisions. This is one of them. One reason might be the judges are not term limited like the politicians. Maybe there ought to be a 12 year term limit rule for the Supreme Court justices.
We are nowhere close to losing the net neutrality fight, but the fight we have not even waged yet is the fight that will bring true competition in the high speed internet access arena. It is the fight to release the spectrum. The spectrum war needs to be taken to Comcast's doors.
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