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From: "Aaron Tiensivu" <mojomofo@mojomofo.com>
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Subject: Re: XOR  [ was: Linux stifles innovation.]
Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2001 15:04:57 -0500
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| Since that time, about 1986, I learned that there is a whole cottage
| industry of going through old, but not too old, patents and seeing how
| they can be misconstrued to apply to current technology, buying the
| patent for cheap, and then threatening "infringers".  More or less
| an extortion racket.  Generally the license fee demanded is low enough
| that is more cost effective, in the short term, to pay.   And with
| shareholder lawsuits the way they are, short term thinking
| is the only thinking shareholders accept, and the extortionists
| know it.

Those of them that didn't end up in jail went on to form RAMBUS in the 90s.


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