Warning: Acacia Research patent extortion attempt

Today I received in the mail a letter from "Acacia Research", claiming that 
a wireless hot spot that I run infringes upon their US patent 
#<http://tinyurl.com/5ho2g>6,226,677, and asking that I "enter into a 
licensing agreement" with them.  From the mailing address that they used, 
it is clear that they got my address by searching for web pages that 
describe wireless access points.  Therefore, I wouldn't be surprised if 
other people on this mailing list receive similar letters.

Their 'patent' basically describes a specialized TCP proxy that controls 
access to the Internet from the user's computer.  Because my network 
doesn't use such a proxy (it provides a direct connection to the Internet), 
there's no possible way that it could infringe.  However, for those of you 
who run 'captive portals', it's not inconceivable that they might be 
covered by this patent.

One important thing to note, though: This patent was filed on January 15, 
1999, and awarded on May 1, 2001.  Therefore, there is almost certain to be 
*lots* of prior art covering this.

It turns out that this company - Acacia Research - has been buying up lots 
of patents, and does business by trying to shake down several (mostly 
small) companies that it clams is 'infringing' upon them.  For more 
information, see <http://www.fightthepatent.com/> and 
<http://www.paidcontent.org/pc/arch/cat_acacia.shtml> (search for 
"<http://tinyurl.com/5ho2g>6,226,677").

In response, I'm going to be sending "Acacia Research" a strongly worded 
letter, telling them basically to FOAD.

**Finally, a warning to any other parasites out there who may be reading 
this: I have been involved in Internet-related research for more than 20 
years.  Believe me, you *do not* want to get into a fight with me over 
'prior art'.  Don't even think about it!**


	Ross Finlayson
	LIVE.COM
	<http://www.live.com/>

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