Well, its a step in the right direction.
Tim
At 14:56 01/02/2007, you wrote:
>Could this announcement by Blackboard have any relationship to this
>slighlty earlier event setting back their plans for a patent and world
>domination? I leave you to draw your own conclusions!
>
>January 25, 2007
>
>Patent Office Orders Re-Examination of Blackboard Patent
>
>In response to a formal request filed by the Software Freedom Law Center
>(SFLC), the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today
>ordered re-examination of the e-learning patent owned by Blackboard Inc.
>
>Follow this link for an update on the Blackboard patent:
>
>http://www.softwarefreedom.org/news/20070125a.html
>
>Chris
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: A closed list for members of the Association for Learning
>Technology. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Thorpe,
>Louise P
>Sent: 01 February 2007 14:31
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Blackboard patent pledge
>
>
>** Apologies for cross-posting**
>
>Dear All
>
>Please see below the text of the Blackboard patent pledge that was
>released into the Blackboard/WebCT User Community earlier today for your
>information.
>
>Louise Thorpe
>Head of Academic Innovation
>Learning and Teaching Institute
>Sheffield Hallam University
>
>
>1 February 2007
>
>Dear Blackboard Community,
>I am writing to share some exciting news about a patent pledge
>Blackboard is making today to the open source and home-grown course
>management community. We are announcing a legally-binding, irrevocable,
>world-wide pledge not to assert any of our issued or pending patents
>related to course management systems or transaction systems against the
>use, development or support of any open source or home-grown course
>management systems.
>We developed this pledge over several months with the help and
>dedication of various members of the e-Learning community, such as
>EDUCAUSE, Sakai and many Blackboard clients. We are very grateful for
>their time and counsel. Without such a thoughtful and collaborative
>process, this sort of unprecedented pledge for a company of our size
>might not have been possible.
>"We particularly welcome the inclusion of pending patents, the
>clarification on the commercial support, customization, hosting or
>maintenance of open source systems and the worldwide nature of
>Blackboard's pledge. We also appreciate the willingness of Blackboard to
>continue with frank and direct dialogue with our two organizations and
>with other higher education representatives and groups to work toward
>addressing these problems of community concern." -Joint Statement of
>EDUCAUSE and Sakai Boards of Directors "We wish to acknowledge the
>company's actions and express our appreciation to Blackboard in
>committing to continue to foster creativity and collaboration within the
>e-Learning community. Such a response can only benefit the teachers and
>practitioners, the learners, Blackboard, and indeed the wider e-Learning
>community." -Australasian Council on Open, Distance and E-Learning
>(ACODE) As a longstanding and leading member of the e-Learning
>community, we understand that Blackboard plays an important role in
>promoting the open exchange of ideas, collaboration and innovation. This
>pledge symbolizes our continued commitment to that role by agreeing not
>to assert U.S. Patent No. 6,988,138 and many other pending patent
>applications as well as their international counterparts against the
>development, use or distribution of open source software or home-grown
>course management systems anywhere in the world, to the extent that such
>systems are not bundled with proprietary software. This pledge also
>extends to the commercial support, hosting, customization and
>maintenance of such applications. So those using home-grown or open
>source systems, professors and teachers contributing to open source
>projects, open source initiatives, commercially developed open source
>add-on applications to proprietary products and vendors hosting and
>supporting open source applications all are covered by this pledge. In
>addition, we have extended the pledge to many specifically named open
>source initiatives within the course and learning management system
>space whether or not they may include proprietary elements within their
>applications, including Sakai, Moodle, ATutor, Bodington and Elgg.
>We are very pleased to take this formal step which is part of a larger
>effort on our part to engage more deeply with the e-Learning community
>and help foster greater openness and interoperability. We believe the
>pledge and the collaboration that brought it about will support and
>promote new innovation and the free flow of ideas across the global
>e-Learning community.
>The text of the Pledge which incorporates by reference a list of
>frequently asked questions, as well as the announcement press release
>may be found on our website at www.blackboard.com/patent
><http://click.blackboard-email.com/?ffcb10-fe22157172640d75721177-fdf616
>767660017e71107671-fefc1571706301-fec41c737c65077e-fe0415777762047f77157
>073> . If you have any questions about the Pledge, please contact
>Blackboard's Chief Legal Officer, Matthew Small, at
>[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> . Thank you
>again for your continued partnership.
>Sincerely,
>Michael Chasen
>President and CEO
>Blackboard Inc.
>
>
>
>
>
>Louise Thorpe
>Head of Academic Innovation
>Learning and Teaching Institute
>Sheffield Hallam University
>ext 2895
>
>
>
>
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