Bonum Certa Men Certa

Notorious Patent Troll, Erich Spangenberg, Has a New Target

Erich Spangenberg



Summary: Erich Spangenberg, who used bogus patents to scam his way into many millions of dollars ('protection' money), enters the blockchain

THE EXTRAVAGANT troll known as Erich Spangenberg was covered here many times before, e.g. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. His former troll entity pretty much went out of existence after the patent/s in question got canned. But he is still around.

CNBC said yesterday that "patent trolls are digging into the blockchain" -- a headline which speaks about a familiar troll who deserves to go bankrupt (ill-gotten wealth). As expected, blockchain is being targeted now. Techrights warned about it in past years, e.g. [1, 2, 3]. "The blockchain," explains the report from CNBC, "the digital ledger system that underlies the boom in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, is an innovation born within the open-source software community, where software coders pride themselves on the sharing of information. But the blockchain's open-source formative years may not stay that way.

"As bitcoin nears $20,000 and other digital currencies experience unprecedented gains, some of the biggest names in the corporate world are seeking patents related to the blockchain — financial companies like Visa, retailers like Walmart and the tech old guard like IBM. And in what likely would cause distress in the open-source movement, in late November one of the business world's most notorious patent trolls hatched plans to create and amass a trove of blockchain patents."

Then comes the key part: "Erich Spangenberg, who became notorious in Silicon Valley for challenging tech patents, has put together a new group to unlock the value in blockchain IP. Spangenberg wrote in a recent blog post, "The financial press is having fun talking about Bitcoin, but another important story that gets less attention is the technology underlying Bitcoin called 'blockchain.'""

"His former troll entity pretty much went out of existence after the patent/s in question got canned. But he is still around."Those are software patents. The only practical way to make something out of them is to avoid the courts and blackmail companies out of court. It doesn't matter where really; software patents, especially in the financial domain, are the most fragile of all.

Yesterday "Bluefin Announce[d] the Issuance of their First Japanese Patent," but this one too is financial. Patents like this one are hard to enforce (even in courts in Japan these days), so these are more like 'trophy' patents or something one uses to intimidate rather than sue companies.

Thankfully, with TC Heartland (2017, Supreme Court), it's already getting very hard for trolls in the US. IAM's Timothy Au has just posted this overview of patents from RPX (now that RPX is being sort of liquidated); the death of most patent trolls in the US makes RPX irrelevant as it explores/ponders a move to China (where trolling has shifted in recent years).

"Thankfully, with TC Heartland (2017, Supreme Court), it's already getting very hard for trolls in the US."There's also the implosion of BlackBerry, which has become little more than a patent troll. Earlier today the Wall Street media said that the company's CEO "Chen is also working to strike new licensing deals for the stable of patents BlackBerry has from its heyday as a smartphone pioneer."

It's trying to become a software company now. But at the same time a great share of its activity is dedicated to patent shakedown.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Ubuntu Desktop Director of Engineering Has Only One Blog Post. It Promotes Microsoft Windows.
Remember that even 15 years ago (more or less, maybe 16 years ago) Canonical appointed a a 'former' Microsoft manager (Spencer) to lead Ubuntu on the desktop
IBM Red Hat on "era of cloud computing", pushing "hey hi" (AI) hype in Microsoft Azure
LLM slop might actually be more benign than Microsoft promotion
Corruption and Rule-Breaking Prevail at the European Patent Office (EPO), Europe's Second-Largest Institution
The law does not really exist at the EPO; it can be perceived as merely a "recommendation"
404 Media Says "Workers at NASA Told to Drop Everything to Scrub Mentions of Indigenous People, Women from Its Websites" But There's Also Accessibility in the Firing Line
In the case of abandoning accessibility, everyone stands to be hurt and proprietary software can be brought in to replace standards
 
Tons of Anti-Linux 'Articles' Published by Bots (LLMs), Maybe Microsoft's
Upon closer inspection, all this FUD turned out to be LLM garbage
Gemini Links 06/02/2025: Voicemail Sucks and Night of Lights
Links for the day
Links 06/02/2025: YouTube Takedowns Out of Control, 'DOGE' Breaking Laws
Links for the day
statCounter: More Countries Where Windows is Around 1% "Market Share" (People Have Moved to Android/Linux)
in some nations Windows is already 1% or less
When BetaNews Writes Real Articles About "Linux" They Promote Windows
The Web is in a bad state. We need to at least try to correct this.
Gemini Links 06/02/2025: Cynicism and "Real Magic on the C64"
Links for the day
Links 06/02/2025: New Sanctions, Layoffs, and Executive Orders
Links for the day
Distros and Desktop Environments, Devices
GNU/Linux focused
New Rumours of IBM Layoffs in 2025, IBM Consulting Still Struggles, Based on Management
"Hey hi" (AI) has been a common excuse for business failure
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, February 05, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, February 05, 2025
Links 05/02/2025: Kessler Syndrome and News Online
Links for the day
statCounter: Monaco Now 7% GNU/Linux ("Proper")
GNU/Linux, not counting Chromebooks, is on the rise
Many Parts of Google Lose Money
It's quite apparent that many parts of Google - even some that rely on ad revenue or push ads - aren't profiting
European Internet Forum (EIF) is Dominated by American Corporations and Microsoft Lobbyists, Staff Take the Lead
Should the officials over here or the European Parliament pay attention to these people?
Links 05/02/2025: Connection without Connectivity and Unionised Grocery Workers
Links for the day
Just Because People on Top of the Microsoft Pyramid Made a Lot of Money Doesn't Mean Microsoft is Wealthy
The bigger they are the harder they fall
Gemini Links 05/02/2025: Learning, Madman Ruling a Mad Country, Back in Geminispace
Links for the day
statCounter Shows "WIntel" Chasing a Dying Market
Microsoft acts as if it's running out of money
Free Software Foundation, Inc. (FSF) Still Raising Money, Richard Stallman Contributes
total exceeding $430k
A Lot of Stuff About "Linux" in Google News is LLM Slop, Fake 'Articles'
It seems to be getting worse
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, February 04, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, February 04, 2025
'Official' Debian Sites That Sell Proprietary and Surveillance
"Azure API throttling strikes back"
statCounter: Only 1 in ~40 Web Users in Ireland Uses Microsoft Browser, One in Six Uses Windows
When/if Windows market share goes down, so will Edge
Links 04/02/2025: Social Control Media Bans and US Fighting Its Allies, Not Russia
Links for the day
Links 04/02/2025: Birth of a Calf, FOSDEM, and More
Links for the day
Anti-Linux FUD Sites cybersecuritynews.com and gbhackers.com Turn Out to be LLM Slop, Even Plagiarism That Spreads Lies
Beware false headlines and fake text from cybersecuritynews.com and gbhackers.com
BetaNews Began Removing LLM Slop About "Linux", But More of It Keeps Coming From Guardian Digital, Inc (at linuxsecurity.com)
the other Serial Slopper, Guardian Digital, Inc
Mollamby, Suicide Cluster, not trademark, the real reasons for Debian legal expenses, evidence
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 04/02/2025: Mass Layoffs at Salesforce, Economic Pressures, Trade Wars
Links for the day
The Latest Microsoft Layoffs Are a Wake-up Call: The Company is Running Low on Money
in most areas it is not even profitable
[Video] Richard Stallman Auctioning a GNU (Gnu) at Surathkal, India
clip is only a minute-long
Software Freedom Month at NITK Surathkal and Yesterday's Talk by Richard Stallman
the message being spread by the person who started it all
Richard Stallman Has Another Talk in India Tomorrow, at Least Fourth India Talk in Recent Days
In the past month he has given at least half a dozen talks
statCounter: GNU/Linux and ChromeOS Now Measured at 2.78% in Japan (It Used to be Less Than 0.5%)
really 'took off' half a decade ago
GNU/Linux Reaches All-Time High in the United States, Based on statCounter
Windows is the loser; GNU/Linux grows at its expense
LLM Hype (Chatbots Hyped and Wrongly Characterised as "Artificial Intelligence") Cause Net Inflation
Net as in Internet, not limited to the Web
It Looks Like BetaNews' Managing Editor Wayne Williams is Taking Over From Fagioli After Repeat Pattern of LLM Slop (State-of-the-Art Plagiarism) About "Linux"
The most plausible explanation is, Fagioli got caught or his conduct could no longer be ignored
statCounter Reckons Less Than 10% in Mexico Still Use Windows to Access to Web and GNU/Linux Surges to All-Time High (Plus, Microsoft's Latest Debt Crisis)
Looking at Mexico in isolation
From India to Italy: Richard Stallman's Next Talk is Next Week in Torino
Announced less than a day ago
Corporate Media is Intentionally Lying for Microsoft, There's Now a Hiring Freeze, No Replacements for Workers Laid Off in Two Mass Layoffs Last Month
Maybe the media - at least some of it - actually deserves doom. If it covers up for the powerful to muzzle and gaslight the oppressed, then what sort of media is that anyway?
Gemini Links 04/02/2025: Tolkien and New Job
Links for the day
Covering EPO Scandals in an Age of Mass Censorship (and Europe Being Afraid to Introspect, for It Might "Help Putin")
It was all along expected that "external enemies" would be invoked to suppress discussion about EPO crimes
Facebook Finally Admits That It Censored Linux and Banned People for Mentioning It; statCounter Shows Rapid Growth for GNU/Linux in Southeast Asia
So GAFAM is losing its power
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, February 03, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, February 03, 2025