Lawsuit PROFITS?!?!?

Am I the only one who finds it appalling that some companies (like Forgent Networks) use patent suits as their sole source of income? I mean, what sort of cheap, underhanded, low-down company buys patents to ubiquitously used softwares like JPEG and MPEG and starts suing everyone in hopes of coming out with some money? Whats worse is that it works! Apparently Forgent Networks brought in $105 million last year from what I can only assume is blackmail (excuse me, you are using 10 lines of code that was written by someone who sold us the patent. Give us a million dollars, or we will cost your company 20 million in legal fees trying to defend a 10 million dollar suit.) .

Dont get me wrong, I totally believe in companies making money off of the patents they created, or even the ones that other companies that they bought created. But when a company goes trolling the waste bins for random loose patents in an effort to boost their cash flow a little, I find that totally dishonorable. Everyone can and SHOULD make money, just do it in a way that isn't screwing everyone else, or making it very difficult for others to make money.

Just for reference, this is the article that I am referring to:
http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/05/26/jpeg_patent_battle/

No, jump in a pit full of syringes that are filled with Potassium Chloride. Throw in some dull, rusty blades for good measure.....

EDIT: For spelling.

No, you aren't the only one that finds it appauling. Scams, backstabs and screw-overs happen all the time in the business world. This is just another example of what our prestigious government allows, and what we can do almost nothing about. You must remember that these aren't people that live off of the backs of others, you and I do it everyday. Don't deny it because the U.S. was practically built off of the backs of the poor, while us rich folks sit and watch, rising to the top only further.

Thank you idiot.

I must say that I, as a newbie, do feel honored by the fact that you guys, with 950 to almost 2000 posts, would even THINK of posting a reply to someone like me. The fact that one of you even put thought into your post gives me warm fuzzies inside. It seems that for having only 4 posts, I seem to have attracted an A-list crowd. I have even read some of your guys' posts. And Action-Man, you seem to have quite a reputation, as you have seen in the recent thread "WIERD STUFF GOING ON IN THG'S FORUMS." All this makes me wonder if maybe I'll even reach the president. Dang. I feel famous.

Why are you even posting on my thread? I asked a question that I would like real opinions about. I didn't intend to have idiots post and just start telling me to go die. Maybe if there were people that had a thought process that exceeded that of a twelve year old's, I wouldn't have to deal with stupid and pointless comments like, "die newbie die" or "go roll in some rusty razor blades." However you have piqued my interest. I would like to now know how many ways someone can tell some noob to kill himself. I think this might just be interesting. And I am not only including elite posters, but am opening it to anyone who comes across this thread. I think this might just be a little fun.
Edit:
Oh, and I still maintain that you are all idiots.

I would like to thank you all for my induction of fire into this forum. I will forever be indebted to you.

*Belch*

shoooooo!!!

and here's the reason ppl are giving you a hard time: n00bs come in here and post off the wall stuff all the time and then disappear- never to be seen again. so the question is, are you of those who will disappear?

;-)


(p.s., get your post count up in the hardware forums and then maybe you'll get some respect)

Im sorry guys, I guess I left myself open for that stuff. Call it a noob mistake. I intend to be here for some time to come, I just don't think I'll be starting a thread any time soon. I apologise for the cannon-fodder, I was just in a fit of rage at the time. And thanks for the advice mpjesse. I kinda figured that I wouldn't be taken seriously by many due to the almost nonexistient post count of mine. I would like to note that I have posted on other forums and never got such a quick response to something that I wouldn't think would be seen by many people. Oh well, I will continue to make posts (I have been a THG reader for about 5 years now), and maybe my noob status will be transcended and I can get a little respect around here. But for now, blast me all you want.

Just so you know, I still think you are all idiots 8) .

Don't worry, you'll fit right in. 8)

It is a consequence of patent legislature in combination with capitalism in its purest form. Obviously there is a business in it, and as such you will have to accept it for what you totally believe in.

Personally I see it as a side effect of something (patent legislature) that went overboard, and which needs reconsideration. I agree with the basic statement that an idea in itself has value, but to decouple it completely from realization of that idea into something usable, is a bad idea, and you are complaining about the side effects that it is creating.

What use is a patent on a good idea, if the patent holder sees no way of translating the idea into a profitable product? And how can you put a value on a good idea, when without the idea there would not a be a product at all? The value of the product is in the combination of the two, not in each part in specific.

Even if we could agree on the above, then the issue becomes how to correct the current situation? A tough nut to crack in itself.

Well, actually that system that you wholeheartedly support makes it a worthwhile business to just acquire patents and sue the crap out of others. Apparently easier than to actually invent something.

Just like there are call centers that make a living out of harassing people during their dinner, or spam advertising. Personally I wouldn't want to make my money that way, but that is because I have other options available and I'm not too demanding in terms the cashflow I need to sustain myself and my family.

You can start with yourself in admitting to yourself that you do not wholeheartedly support the system, but that the flaws in the system definitely need fixing. Fixing those flaws will create new flaws that may (and probably will) damage other parts of the system that you value dearly and then it's decision time which parts of the system you support the most.

Alternative is to start all over again, fresh start, in which case you will need to get rid of the old system first, so indeed a revolution. You will probably need a group of people that support that idea as revolutions on a individual basis are remarkably short term and unsuccessful for some reason.

Or you could relocate to a country where they have a different system (state guided economy) and see how they're holding up. I must say you're running slowly out of choices there, so that must mean something as well.

Senator McArthy woulda' chopped you into little pieces....

N.S.A. at the very least ... Time to slit your window shades & hunker down... By the way whats that van across the street??

you talk a lot.

ummmmmm... i guess not. ABL talks a lot too.

If you think that my mobo is crappy, you are sadly mistaken. It is an excellent performer, and has handled any overclock that I dare on the cooler that I have. That, along with the extensive feature set makes it, for me at least, the best on the market, especially considering the price.

I do not think that is a very unique trade of character around here. What is surprising though, is that he is very easily distracted from the topic that he started himself. Usually it takes a couple of topics before newbs get used to the derailment of what it is that they actually wanna talk about. I think he's a natural.

So it's overclockability is limited by your lack of balls?

No, it is limited by my lack of money. I don't have ANY to throw away, and I would like to keep my stuff nice for at least a year. And yes, I have fried many a system overclocking.

By the way, here's my system. Its not much, but I do well with it.

Athlon64 3200+ (Venice, Stock cooler)
Asrock 939 dual Sata II
1GB DDR, mismatched 2x512
nvidia FX5200 128
2x40GB white label hard drives
650W Arrow PowerSupply

By the way, I had it up to almost 2.5 GHZ before I decided to go back to stock speeds when I found a 10 degree (F) jump in my room temps over the day.

LOL

Yeah, im looking at a couple of 200-250 gig drives to upgrade. Any suggestions? I need a sub-$100 price tag.

Thats a real nice drive, especially for the money. I was wanting to keep it medium capacity to save money for NCQ and SATA 3.0gbps. The one that I have been looking at for a while is this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822144013

There is also an ATA 133 version for about $5 less, but I was hoping to finally get all those huge ribbon cables out of the way. What do you think?

Edit:
I also just noticed I could get two of these bad boys for about the same (186.90) as the 500gb. Perhaps I could set up a blazing fast raid? And yes, I did notice it seems (with the reviews) to be hit or miss with these. That in mind, I think I would be willing to risk it by only buying one at a time, due to monetary constraints.

All in good time. I have other priorities at the monent. Like not having a 3 year old primary hard disk. Maybe later in the summer.

yeah its defintiely worth the risk if you are going run blazing raid...

if you do get them tell us what you think, im interested as well