Paddy
Banned User - violation of <a href="http://www.cas
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2007
- Location
- British Columbia
Pardon me while I briefly interrupt the 'he said, she said' flow....
I am more concerned with the actual violation. To be honest, I read the above and understand little of what it's talking about. However, I do have questions.
Is this 'software' or 'application' used by all online casinos? Only RTG? Only BoDog?
Do all casinos have to pay for the rights to use it?
And if it's a software and/or application directly necessary to day to day operation of casinos, why is this fee not paid by the software companies (RTG, MG, etc.?).
Why was Bodog singled out? They're the only casino that hasn't paid up? (Like most here, I highly suspect that the Feds 'convinced' 1st Technologies to pursue this lawsuit.)
And why was their domain name(s) confiscated? What has one to do with the other?
Never mind the interruption. I'm tired of it myself.
Those are some good questions.
As best I can tell, this patent must be about some software code and things like compression algorithms. There is a huge amount of bytes sent back and forth between a gaming site and the customer during games. These take up lot of bandwidth and I think this is especially a problem with dial up networks.
The allegation against Bodog seems to be that Bodog has incorporated this code into what Calvin says is "proprietary" software, that is, Bodog designed it themselves and didn't buy it from somebody else. To sum it up, incorporating this code into Bodog software would make it work faster, which is necessary for online gaming.
1st Technology says that Bodog uses some of its code in Bodog's code. I assume Bodog denies that, or perhaps they may be saying they don't give a shit because nobody can touch them with US law. The truth is that nobody knows if Bodog denies that they incorporate Lewis design in their software. But if it comes to a Calvin says, Lewis says, I think I'd be much more inclined to take the word of a Marshall scholar, an Oxford Phd, and a Harvard MBA than I would of a guy banned from public stock markets for 20 years. But maybe that's just me.
Its a very good question about RTG, which I have now learned means Real Time Gaming. Perhaps RTG has its own design that does the same thing as 1st Tech's, but uses different code to the extent that it doesn't infringe the patent. Maybe RTG has another patent and they don't need to pay royalties to 1st Tech for theirs. If that is the case, all sites that use RTG and pay royalties to them are unlikely to be affected by this recent thing.
I think that if RTG infringed 1st Tech's patent, we'd have heard about long ago. On the other hand, maybe RTG incorporates 1st Tech's stuff and pays royalties, which then allow all of its customers to use it.
I think Bodog was singled out because they claim proprietary software that really isn't proprietary at all. That, and Calvin's mouth and the mistaken impression that there's a lot of money there to be sued for.
As to the domain name confiscation, I do know the answer to that. 1st Tech's position throughout is that Bodog is a criminal organization that scoffs at US law. It also says that Bodog is causing it great harm by using its software and affecting the market share of its own licensees who do pay it royalties and thus is doing great harm to 1st Tech. It has sought an injunction to stop the infringing behavior. Normally an injunction will only issue when a payment of cash will not account for the damages when the suit is eventually settled. 1st Tech maintains that a cash payment is not going to be paid, the damage is immediate and ongoing, and the only thing to be done is stop the downloading of the infringing software by tactics such as interfering with the domain name. That, in a nutshell, is why the Washington court would have given that order against the Washington State domain registrar.
Other orders may be coming in other states, or may already have been given. For instance, such orders may have been responsible for Sherdog forum stopping Bodog advertising, or ION television cancelling the Bodog fight contract.