Re: Acacia Internet Access Redirection

On Wed, 2004-10-06 at 16:25, John Keimel wrote:
> On Tue, Oct 05, 2004 at 08:00:44PM -0700, Jacob S. Barrett wrote:
> > Today I received an information packet from Acacia Technologies Group 
> > informing me that I was in volation of their patent on "IAR" [1].  IAR is a 
> > US Patent 6,226,677 [2].  That packet suggest that I must license their 
> > technology or face legal action.  Has anyone else received this same 
> > extortion letter?
> > 
> > The claims the the patent text lead me to believe they don't have much to 
> > stand on.

Jacob,

of course they dont - they never do.

The name of the game is *fear* and they will beat you if you play by
their rules.  This the mode they are currently in  - troll for replies
and see who bites.  Those who bite will Dont talk to them.  If you
argue, they will play you, and they will push you to until you crack.

Do NOT attend any meeting or answer any correspondence.


>   If I read the abstract and claim one correctly then it doesn't 
> > cover a system that doesn't change the destination address.

If that fact can be used to spin them off, they may abandon the chase
early.  I doubt it tho.


> I do recommend banding together with other people named in the suit and
> trying to present a united front. I know it's very hard, especially
> when a few bucks can just 'make the problem go away', which is what most
> PHB's want.

I disagree.  This is what they want you to do - all join together in one
place.. a single shot will do the job then.  Contrast that line of
thinking to "everyone go to ground, answer no correspondence, and in
general, just dissappear."  They cant argue if you wont argue.  They
know their claims are borderline - they need an admission or a voluntary
payment.  Give them neither.

The other part of the problem is unduly startling nocat users.  This is
part of their game and will cause a large division among us if we let
it.  I have seen a number of lists self-destruct under this pressure. 
Lets process it quickly and then get shod of it.


Steve