<br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 1:08 PM, Mark Malewski <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:mark.malewski@gmail.com">mark.malewski@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
What exactly is going on?<div><br></div><div>Did someone apply for a patent? Are ANY patents pending? If so, please let us know what patents are currently pending, so we can at least look them over and contest them.</div>
<div><br></div><br></blockquote><div><br><br>Yes Diva,<br><br>Please lets be a bit more explicit about why the sudden interest in patents...<br><br>I don't want to read them, I don't want to rant about them, but i am curious about why NOW? Whats the big happy trigger event????<br>
<br>I spent less than 10 minute with a google query "microsoft virtual world patents" to collect these 2 interesting gems....<br><br><br><a href="http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2009/12/microsoft-rethinking-avatar-creation-tools.html">http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2009/12/microsoft-rethinking-avatar-creation-tools.html</a><br>
<br>Microsoft Rethinking Avatar Creation Tools?<br><br>Microsoft is apparently exploring ways to make Xbox Live avatars more like their users. To that end, the company has filed for a patent that details "an Avatar generator for a virtual environment [which] reflects a physiological characteristic of the user, injecting a degree of reality into the capabilities or appearance."<br>
<br><br><br>and another interesting tidbit....<br><br><a href="http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/021009-microsoft-patent.html">http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/021009-microsoft-patent.html</a><br><br>Curtis Wong, who is one of four Microsoft Research co-inventors of the technology, said in a statement: "The goal of this patent is to make the interaction between the physical and virtual worlds a little more seamless."<br>
<br>Wong, who has authored 45 patents, also was a co-inventor in 2006 on Microsoft's 5,000th patent, a technology that let people become spectators in online video games. <br><br><br>so...whats the game????? When questions get raised about the use of MONO and if THAT poses a danger to the project the answer is NO>>>..Microsoft has "released" the parts of mono WE use, and issued a "promise" that we don't have to worry about meeting up with a Microsoft legal team in the future..... Where's the outrage over MS filing "silly" patents?<br>
<br>I certainly don't want to prolong the off-topic discussions about the future of IP... and I'm not attempting to defend anyone elses' actions. Except for the off-topic rants...Ive read every word so far and all I've really heard is "DONT DO IT, ITS BAD and some references to some event. Until I know what the event was, I'm certainly not sure how to evaluate a followup comment " No need to panic, the project is not in danger. "<br>
<br>D<br><br></div></div>