Nice piece on a recent patent absurdity by a Facebook friend of mine, Joseph S. Diedrich, “Dislike: Facebook Sued for Patent Infringement,” about a lawsuit against Facebook for using the “Like” button by one Joannes Jozef Everardus van Der Meer, who “patented a ‘Like’ button for his primitive social networking site Surfbook in 1998.”
The article condemns this ridiculous situation and concludes: “The propitious effect of the free exchange of ideas ‒ including the copying of them at will ‒ is something we should all ‘like.'”
But I won’t repixel the whole piece, since it ironically concludes with this ominous warning:
This article is the copyrighted property of the writer and Communities @ WashingtonTimes.com. Written permission must be obtained before reprint in online or print media. REPRINTING TWTC CONTENT WITHOUT PERMISSION AND/OR PAYMENT IS THEFT AND PUNISHABLE BY LAW.
Well it’s doubly ironic since the piece quotes me at length. Just sayin’.
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