[ale] Phillips CD patent

[Pete Hardie]

James P. Kinney III wrote:
> I just got the strangest letter from Phillips IP legal group. Basically,
> they own butt loads of patents on CD technology. Including the making of
> the disks themselves. Apparently, there are some cd-r cd-rw and dvd-r
> and dvd-rw disk makers that are not paying out their license fees to
> Phillips for the making of the media. So the letter is a warning that if
> I, or my company specifically, is using any of the "bootleg" blank
> disks, Phillips will then consider that I am an accomplice and will be
> subject to paying the license fee on the disks myself.
> 
> WTF!!!
> 

 From the wording of the letter, it's scare tactics, because they appear to be 
claiming that anyone who buys content on a 'bootleg' CD is liable - like the 
members of the BMG music club who get their CDs.  I cannot believe that such a 
claim is valid, on that basis.

If they wrote you and informed you that you *are* using a *specific* brand of 
discs that are bootleg, then they might have a leg to stand on;  however, it 
also seems that if their claim is valid, they could force the bootleg mfgrs to 
stop making the discs.

-- 
Pete Hardie                   |   Goalie, DVSG Dart Team
     posting from, but not     |
	speaking for:             |
Scientific Atlanta, Digital Video Services Group



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