RTP-area local music and culture

[sorren AT mindspring.com]

I read it all the way through and completely agree with Mr. Rossi.  I hope 
that you can't patent a concept, like the car, but only a unique execution of 
the concept, like the Pontiac Firebird.   If you could patent a concept, 
there would only be one car, right?  It would have a propulsion device 
(current technology uses something called an engine), a device for 
transferring propulsion (drive shaft), and a propulsion consumption device 
(wheels), with a passenger support device on top.   

Rachel


-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Rossi <rossi AT webslingerZ.com>
Sent: May 29, 2004 10:27 AM
To: RTP-area local music and culture <ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: more clear channel insanity

i'm not a patent lawyer (or any kind of lawyer) but just reading that 
patent it seems like it's so general and non-technologoy specific that 
it includes:

   a) any system anyone could ever come up with
   b) nothing

a) is obviously more in keeping with what clear channel wants to do but 
b) is more in line with my understanding of the spirit of patent law.

rossi


alex verhoeven wrote:
> http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story?id=6066617&pageid=rs.Home&pageregion=single1&rnd=1085518316199&has-player=true
>  
> 
> 
> In the past few years, fans leaving some concerts have discovered a 
> souvenir
> far better than a T-shirt: a live recording of the show they just attended.
> Bands including the Allman Brothers, moe. and Billy Idol have sold instant
> concert discs, and the Pixies and the Doors plan to launch similar programs
> this summer. The recording-and-burning company DiscLive estimated on April
> 12th that it would gross $500,000 selling live discs this spring alone.
> 
> But in a move expected to severely limit the industry, Clear Channel
> Entertainment has bought the patent from the technology's inventors and now
> claims to own the exclusive right to sell concert CDs after shows. The
> company, which is the biggest concert promoter in the world, says the 
> patent
> covers its 130 venues along with every other venue in the country.
> 
> "We want to be artist-friendly," says Steve Simon, a Clear Channel 
> executive
> vice president and the director of Instant Live. "But it is a business, and
> it's not going to be 'we have the patent, now everybody can use it for
> free.'"
> 
> Artists net about ten dollars for every twenty- to twenty-five-dollar
> concert CD that's sold, no matter which company they use. But with Clear
> Channel pushing to eliminate competition, many fear there will be less 
> money
> and fewer opportunities to sell live discs. "It's one more step toward
> massive control and consolidation of Clear Channel's corporate agenda," 
> says
> String Cheese Incident manager Mike Luba, who feuded with Clear Channel 
> last
> year after promoters blocked the band from using CD-burning equipment.
> 
> The Pixies, who are booking a fall reunion tour with several probable Clear
> Channel venues, say Clear Channel has already told them DiscLive can't burn
> and sell CDs on-site. "Presuming Clear Channel's service and product are of
> equal quality, it may be best to feed the dragon rather than draw swords,"
> says Pixies manager Ken Goes. "Still, I'm not fond of doing business 
> with my
> arm twisted behind my back."
> 
> Clear Channel doesn't plan to stop Phish, Pearl Jam, the Who or other bands
> that make live recordings available days after the show. It has also 
> granted
> one-dollar licenses to a few up-and-coming bands to record and sell instant
> CDs of their own shows. But Clear Channel executives maintain that they 
> have
> the right to stop anyone who tries to infringe on the patent. Many say this
> strategy prevents inventors from jumping into a marketplace and creating
> further innovation. "We'd like to see this industry opened up to 
> everybody,"
> says Erik Stubblebine, founder and vice president of Hyburn, a Phoenix
> company that has sold instant CDs for dozens of concerts in the past three
> years. "They're trying to squeeze us."
> 
> the patent in question:
> 
> http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=ptxt&s1=6,614,729,&OS=6,614,729,&RS=6,614,729,
>  
> 
> 
> 
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