Batton down those proverbial IP hatches, as AT&T is about to have a Supreme Court face-off with Microsoft over some intellectual property involving every PC sold running Windows software. Microsoft admits infringing on AT&T’s patent of a Digital Speech Coder when it developed it’s Windows OS, but new issues involve transnationallization and a potential $1 Billion settlement award. Cornell Law School has a nice write up on the upcoming face-off.
Fine, you may ask, but what’s this got to do with photography? For one, it pays to keep an eye on International IP issues. Markets are becoming increasingly globalized, and yet many countries like China, India, etc., the respect for copyright and other intellectual property matters are at best, poor to non-existent. (Kinda like most all photos and songs used on MySpace)Â
Disclosure: My wife works for one of the companies involved.
I wouldn’t lump China and India in the same bag for IP respect (or lack thereof). For one thing, India has a thriving software and film industry.