[mythtv-users] "Odometer" Threads

[David Brodbeck]

On Feb 7, 2008, at 8:46 AM, Jay R. Ashworth wrote:

> On Thu, Feb 07, 2008 at 08:34:57AM -0800, Gabe Rubin wrote:
>> And why would that matter?  You are either infringing the patent or
>> not, regardless of whether you knew there is a patent or patents out
>> there you are infringing.  The only place where the issue of whether
>> you knew about patents or not is to determine whether your
>> infringement is willful (up to treble or triple damages) or not
>> (ordinary damages, such as a reasonable royalty or the patentee's  
>> lost
>> profits).
>
> It matters because the common law requires that government  
> interference
> with private action be justified to one degree of stringency or  
> another
> -- read SCOTUS decisions for more on this aspect.
>
> The purpose of patents is to encourage commercial development of novel
> inventions by protecting someone's commercial right of exploitation.

Also, going after an individual who isn't making items for sale is bad  
business, frankly.  It would have a high PR cost, might trigger a  
political backlash, and is unlikely to recover any significant amount  
of money or generate new sales.