BlackBerry woes worsen (and Qigong crotch conundrum)

In today's IT Blogwatch, we look at the continuing brooding uncertainty around the BlackBerry service. Not to mention an eye-watering use of the traditional Chinese arts...

RIM can't make the judge see its side of the story as reported by Stephen Lawson and Nancy Gohring, " A federal judge won't hold up court proceedings in NTP Inc.'s patent lawsuit against Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM), opening the door to a possible injunction that would stop sales of BlackBerry mobile e-mail devices, and shut down BlackBerry service, in the U.S. RIM had filed two motions, one to enforce an agreement with NTP to settle the case and another to stop the court proceedings while the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office re-examines NTP's patents. Judge James Spencer of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Wednesday denied both motions ... The court next will schedule briefings with the parties and set a date for a hearing on the injunction and damages, according to the orders by Judge Spencer. An injunction could be imposed [this month] ... As if all that isn't enough, RIM is also in a five-day hearing this week in the U.K. regarding patent lawsuits." [Trust us Brits to stir the pot, eh? First we supply rootkits to Sony, now this?]

» Ars's Eric Bangeman reminds us, "[push e-mail] has proven to be a sore spot ... RIM may be looking at writing a very expensive check to NTP or stopping US sales and support for the BlackBerry ... At issue are 11 NTP patents that cover much of the technology used in the BlackBerry. In 2003, a federal jury ruled that RIM had infringed on those patents and awarded NTP $23.7 million in damages. RIM appealed, but the judge hearing the case  upheld the jury's decision and granted NTP an injunction which bars RIM from selling BlackBerry devices in the US and offering push e-mail capabilities on systems already supported. However, he also stayed that injunction during an appeal ... On the patent review front, RIM has been successful in getting five of the patents preliminarily invalidated by the US Patent and Trademark Office ... [But] the review process takes a long time--time RIM no longer has. And in today's ruling, Judge Spencer ruled out the possibility that enforcement actions may be stayed pending the completion of the USPTO's reviews. At this point, NTP holds all the cards."

» Patent attorney Dennis Crouch dissects the legalese: "Judge Spencer of the Eastern District of Virginia has determined that the $450 million agreement between RIM and NTP that was announced Spring 2005 is not enforceable ... it appears to be clear that the Court’s next step will be to determine the bounds of any injunction."

» GMSV called U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer "notoriously crotchety" and predicted a falling of the sky: "Millions of CrackBerry addicts may soon find themselves disconnected and yearning for a fix ... The ruling is a big victory for NTP, which has already announced plans to go for RIM's throat, seeking an injunction against BlackBerry products and services in the U.S., RIM's largest market."

» Big Red, commenting on Gizmondo reminds us that Federal users are safe: "The reason why service to the government [won't] be shut down is that by law, no injunction can be enforced against the government for patent infringement. That dates back to the days of the Wright Brothers, when their, and a few other inventors', patents on aircraft technology completely prevented every US manufacturer from making planes suitable for the military to use in WWI. Eventually, Congress passed a law breaking the patents, and the lines started rolling."

In related news, this from Todd Weiss [Vice! Slut! ... Sorry, force of habit] "In the wake of this year's hurricane devastation in the Gulf Coast states ... first responders renewed their call for interoperable emergency data communications systems ... The first standard aimed at that effort is the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), which is a text-based data interchange format that allows the collection and distribution of "all-hazard" safety notifications and emergency warnings across information networks and public alerting systems used by first responders ... Information can be transmitted to multiple agencies or rescue individuals at one time using data communications ... Bill Lent, a private consultant and former board member of the International Association of Emergency Managers ... estimated that if progress continues at its current pace, interoperable standards could be in place in less than five years." [Your humble blogwatcher just choked on his tea -- HOW LONG???]

Buffer overflow:

• Thoughts about SMS text message spam
• Brian Krebs: November a Record Month for IM Worms
• Techdirt: Single Blogger Looking To Knock Out Amazon's One-Click Patent
• Techdirt: The Fascination With WiFi When Used In A Crime
• Infoworld Techwatch: SOA specification is readied by IBM, BEA, others
• Gripelog: Amazon Loses Some Allure
• Nick Carr: Kill all screensavers
• Silicon Beat: RSS, meet Yahoo Mail
• IT Toolbox: Is Oracle moving away from Linux?
• IT Toolbox: Cracking WPA-PSK
• SEW: 1 Million Images Now Available Online from The Library of Congress
• Forbes on Tech: The New Exit Strategy: Acquisition by Google
• Digital Media in Asia: Who Leads the World in P2P Television Streaming Technology?
• Beyond VC: Tips for the first VC Meeting
• Douglas Schweitzer: Despite flaws, Apple still has a cast iron core
• David Ramel: What's on your playlist?
• Shark Tank: Y'know, you're just raising their expectations

And finally... Qigong crotch conundrum

Richi Jennings is an independent technology and marketing consultant, specializing in email, blogging, Linux, and computer security. A 20 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. Contact Richi at blogwatch@richi.co.uk. Judi's gone walkabout today.