Wired News: Porn Sites May Stream No More: If you get past the first two-thirds of this article, which is about porns sites losing a lawsuit by default, you get to this gem:
“So far, 27 companies have settled with Acacia. Those include LodgeNet Entertainment Corporation, the hotel video-on-demand service, and Virgin Radio, a streaming music firm. … Acacia claims its patents cover just about every form of digital audio and video distribution. According to Berman, these kinds of activities violate Acacia’s intellectual property rights: pushing MP3s from peer-to-peer groups, streaming newscasts from Internet radio sites and delivering movies through cable networks.”
So someone claims to have a patent on “just about every form of digital audio and video distribution”? Nice.
It might be that someone has a patent for streaming but if you didn't know it till now, there is still a basic rule of the nature says that as stronger you are you have more rights :)
The only rational explanation for this bully action is that Microsoft and some other giants still didn�t hear about this funny story. These companies have a steady staff of layers, guarding their interests and are constantly busy fighting those, who come across their ways.
It might be that someone has a patent about streaming. Streaming is widely implemented in Microsoft applications but in order to claim it, they would have to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in a period of longer than half of a century to win the fight in court.
If these guys are intelligent enough and don�t want to lose their company or maybe even their own savings, they should directly deal with Microsoft, get some millions and live their lives happily to its end.