[Beowulf] Re: How do I work around this patent?

[Jeremy Baker]

Yes, open source and free to access, but other elements to the study related
to the project may result in fees for service that are both lawful and
expensive to manage. [Still training the horse to pull its first cart...]

Hypothetical use of free program could create a micro economy dependent upon
unknown user activity, so it's fair to say that a lawsuit will appear if
people use it. The main study (program) is based upon science ideas to
explore aspects not associated with the game. For example, the MMORPG is a
desired device to "harvest" gamers to advance BOINC packets, for social
problem solving, to present educational material within the engine to help
mature these young and growing gamers who will be adults someday, etc. all
dressed in a "game." I study programming for the love of it, so I model
problems for reasons other than profit.

I wonder if/how this patent will impact robots (user) in a work environment
(server managing coordinate system), systems modeling real world phenomena
in virtual worlds (weather, DoD simulations, GIS innovations, car apps for
GPS... in traffic, real estate virtual tours, etc.)? MMORPG's will likely be
just the beginning... and the case may swing in my favor if major industry
gets hit for fees to conduct routine day to day business using robots in a
coordinate system, or when airports get nailed for a scalable virtual 3-D
environment to handle multiusers (planes) employing a server. Who knows?

I anticipate that the patents will result in Worlds.com discovering that
virtual worlds and server side management is an obvious function dependent
upon hardware configurations, that their roylaties will appear only when
someone uses specific proprietary hardware and its related software to
facilite a desired mission statement employing said hardware; in other
words, the hardware of the server will dictate their claim's success, that
the court will see through the attempt to patent a concept. I may be wrong,
and perhaps someone will patent frequencies used over phones that correlate
to selling a commodity vs just saying hello... (same multiple users use same
computers and servers to post blogs or use Skype, but when using same stuff
to play 3-D environment and/or chat it is patentable?). Observing the SCO vs
IBM lawsuit, from its very beginning, and researching to understand its
progression, I know this issue will go on for a few years... that the money
involved will manipulte the court to its advantage...

Apple IIe, 1987, I got in trouble at home, in high school, for not doing my
homework because I was trying to build a 3-D engine to make a game I had
start in '84 based upon D&D. Virtual multiuser environment was/is obvious to
me... I trust prior art is out there because my code has long been lost.

Maybe a simple work around might be a server for 11-D world ;)

Thank you folks, for the input. I am settled to pause work and if I
continue, and get to the bazaar level, I will release any finished work in a
country where it is lawful. I'm not interested in breaking the law.



On Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 9:52 AM, <ken at kschuster.org> wrote:

> "learn about GRID computing when I was studying biology and the Linux file
> system, with future goals to write interesting open source programs. It's
> the future and I just hit a wall in
> the design process of writing code for my study."
>
> Jeremy,
> For me the first question to be addressed is motive.  Are you planning
> to distribute your work in such a way as to profit from it in a monetary
> sense?  If you are not then the issue of patent is basically moot.  The
> primary purpose of a patent is to protect the creator from intellectual and
> financial harm.  If you are going to distribute the material give create to
> those that you know contributed, which you should do whether it is patented
> or not.  If you are not going to have a financial benefit then you are not
> financially harming the other party.  The caveat here is if the patent
> holder has produced the material in such a manner that they are being
> financially rewarded and you start to distribute something similar to it for
> free then you are hurting them financially.  This is a very rough overview
> and I am sure any bad lawyer would add 50 pages to clarify what I have said.
>
> I do agree with Greg's proceed in ignorance concept.  If you are not trying
> to infringe and do not intentional infringe you will mental proceed better
> and have a lesser case if one were to be brought.  I may know that the speed
> limit is 35 but I will still try to go 45 (;>)
>
> FYI - I am not a practicing attorney and this was not my primary field of
> legal studies.  It is JMHO. Ken//
>
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-- 
Jeremy Baker
SBN 634
337 College Hill
Johnson, VT
05656
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