Dell Computer
has agreed with the FTC to refrain from enforcing a graphics patent
having failed to disclose it to the standards committee in its
deliberations of the VL-bus graphics standard.
"Wired" reported yesterday that the Munich Upper Court declared "deep
linking" - posting links to specific pages within a Web site - in
violation the European Union "Database Directive". The directive
copyrights the "selection and arrangement" of a database - even if the
content itself is not owned by the database creator. It explicitly
prohibits hyperlinking to the database contents as "unfair extraction".
If upheld, this would cripple most search engines. Similar rulings -
based on national laws - were handed down in other countries, the
latest being Denmark.
Amazon sued Barnes and Noble - and has since settled out of court in
March - for emulating its patented "one click purchasing" business
process. A Web browser command to purchase an item generates a "cookie"
- a text file replete with the buyer's essential details which is then
lodged in Amazon's server. This allows the transaction to be completed
without a further confirmation step.
A clever trick, no doubt.
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