On behalf of the Jabber Software Foundation's Board of Directors, I would like to communicate the following announcement:
****** 2002-12-19 Recent news articles have reported that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted a patent to AOL for instant messaging (IM) and presence technology. This patent (#6,499,344) would appear to cover most existing IM and presence systems and services. Because AOL could at any time decide to enforce the patent, its existence could have a chilling effect on the growth of IM and presence technology, as well as on efforts to define open standards in this area. Based on a patent lawyer's interpretation supplied to the JSF, it appears that there is real reason for concern by the Jabber community as well as the Internet community at large. The issue is not simply that AOL may file patent infringement suits against other IM vendors and service providers, although that is quite possible and would be well within their rights given existing patent law. Even if AOL does not resort to litigation, prospective users and customers might avoid adopting or purchasing non-AOL IM and presence technologies because they are afraid the solutions would be subject to a future patent infringement suit, as happened with the patent on GIF images. Finally, the existence of this patent could even halt progress on open standards for IM and presence, including work by the Open Mobile Alliance, the PAM Forum, and IETF Working Groups devoted to SIMPLE and XMPP. The JSF Board encourages everyone in the Jabber community and the Internet community at large to assist in countering this threat. One way to help is by contributing knowledge and supporting evidence of prior art (from before October 1996) to build a convincing case against the validity and defensibility of this patent. Other ways to help include providing up-to-date information about the patent, sharing legal opinions, and discussing potential counter-measures. To facilitate this kind of exchange, the JSF has set up a special website at http://www.jabber.org/aol-patent/ and is hosting an open email discussion mailing list at http://www.jabber.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/aol-patent/. Thoughts and information can also be sent directly to [EMAIL PROTECTED] We strongly believe that this patent is invalid and uneforceable, and that it threatens the future of open standards and interoperability for IM and presence. Please help protect freedom of communication by joining the mailing list today. Thank you. The Jabber Software Foundation Board of Directors Michael Bauer (Chair) Tony Bamonti Ryan Eatmon Jeremie Miller Marco Palombi _______________________________________________ jdev mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mailman.jabber.org/listinfo/jdev
