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Fritz Laurel

Member since: Jan 3rd, 2006

Fritz Laurel's Latest Comments

Blog Activity
Blog# of Comments
TUAW.com465 Comments
Download Squad1 Comment

Recent Comments:

Senator Al Franken asks iOS developers to provide "clear and understandable privacy policies" (TUAW.com)

May 26th 2011 7:46PM Hey Al Franken -- why don't you do something useful and fix the stupid patent situation?

Developers band together to fight Lodsys if necessary (TUAW.com)

May 25th 2011 3:56AM Ahh, ignorance is bliss, isn't it...

Just because Apple says they disagree with Lodsys doesn't mean Lodsys won't sue. And it doesn't mean a court will agree with Apple, either. And if Lodsys does sue and they win, Apple never said they'd cover the legal fees or the damages that could be significant enough to put all of the developers out of business.

It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings.

Lodsys responds to targeted iOS developers (TUAW.com)

May 17th 2011 7:00AM Seriously, I hope somebody steps up and tears this patent and these Lodsys a-holes to pieces. I mean, talk about a novel idea. Prior art? Umm, how about, oh, I don't know ... the internet? Or all those 1980s BBSs. AOL. Prodigy. Hell, even QuickMail (remember that?). All of those systems are described in this patent and all of them existed well before 1992.

Lodsys patent claim threatens independent developers, what next? (TUAW.com)

May 14th 2011 7:39AM Curious to know if anyone has any practical strategies for defending against these types of attacks against our (indie devs') businesses? That is, strategies for lowing your risk of being vulnerable to lawsuits, etc.

Such as, would it help to have your app covered by your own patent(s)? Even if they include someone else's previously patented "inventions?" As I understand it, you can "invent" something and patent it that builds on a previous invention. If that's true, though, then I can't see how any patent infringement is ever actionable as no two products are ever the same and there is always a hole in every patent.

So, question 1 is, does it make sense for small, indie devs to spend the $ to get their own patents? Or is it a better strategy to hope and pray that you don't get one of these letters from a troll?

Rumor: BlackBerry Messenger to land in the App Store on April 26 [Debunked] (TUAW.com)

Mar 30th 2011 5:33AM And this is needed .... why, exactly?

Wooden iPad 2 cover outsmarts Apple's Smart Cover (TUAW.com)

Mar 25th 2011 5:09AM WOW! I'm gonna buy one and I don't even have an iPad2 yet. I'd much rather support this guy than a big company any day!

TUAW TV Live: How would you improve the Mac OS? (TUAW.com)

Mar 24th 2011 5:00AM MacOS 9 anyone?

Seriously, let me kill the freaking dock already. And give me back my customizable Apple menu. I'm still pissed off about that.

"Notable" slowdown at Foxconn manufacturing concerns Apple (Updated) (TUAW.com)

Mar 17th 2011 4:09AM Or, they could ... I dunno ... move their manufacturing to the US and give some Americans a job. It might cost them a little more, but Jesus Christ, they have $50B in cash.

Apple re-working iPad 2 inventory shipments strategy (TUAW.com)

Mar 17th 2011 4:06AM Or, they could ... I dunno ... just make 'em faster.

TweetCaster Pro: An alternative to the 'd**kbar' in the Twitter app (TUAW.com)

Mar 8th 2011 5:42AM Just re-load the old version of the Twitter app. Problem solved. ;)