Upsetting News From The OLPC Front Lines
January 19th, 2008 by
Eric Socia
I don’t have time right now for a full update, but I just HAD to post a link to this article. Apparently, a Nigerian-owned company called LANCOR has filed a lawsuit against Nicholas Negroponte and the OLPC Association for patent infringement regarding “Multilingual Keyboard Technology.” This is very disturbing news. If LANCOR wins this, they could put a stop to the distribution of OLPC’s in struggling countries, and even possibly stop it altogether.
EDIT: Well, that was quick… I just heard from a friend that this is bunk… check this link… http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080103211653578
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James - DigitalKeyToInfo
You have to take anything about Nigeria on the net as possible bunk from the start.
James - DigitalKeyToInfo’s last blog post..Creative Internet Marketing
Jan 19th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Houston Web Design
That is a damn shame! I hope they do not win.
Houston Web Design’s last blog post..Create a 3D Logo with Photoshop
Jan 21st, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Tim Hudson
Patents are a bunch of B.S. in my opinion. If LANCOR has such a great idea, why aren’t they out there in the world making lots of money from their idea, instead of trying to sue other organizations. OLPC is one of those organizations that is trying to make the world a better place, I really hope that LANCOR is able to take their dream away from them.
Jan 22nd, 2008 at 9:00 am
Baby Names
It would seem as though not just the US is becoming a sue happy nation. The disease is spreading visciously throughout the world.
Baby Names’s last blog post..Popular black names by gender
Jan 23rd, 2008 at 11:45 am
Daniel
its a real shame. i guess globalisation is slowly taking out all the humanly qualities from the humans. hope they lose.
Jan 24th, 2008 at 1:08 am
Photoqueen
Oh man! That phone PC would be great for viewing the photos that ScanDigital just touched up for me. Does it have a camera on it?
Jan 24th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Window Film
Disturbing. Cool blog, thanks for sharing. I will stop by more often!
Jan 25th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Obagi
How did you come across this article? Cause I didn’t hear anything about this before this post, I wonder why it isn’t more public.
Jan 28th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
UtahLuxury.com
I highly doubt that will win something that would demoralize a country like that. If they do win, I will move to mars.
Jan 28th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
SAS Dallas International
Lol youre funny james. sadly youre also right!
Jan 29th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
SwingBlogger
I think it would be absolutely devastating if LANCOR were to actually win this lawsuit. I am hoping their claim of patent infringement isn’t strong enough, which I doubt it is, because providing multilingual keyboard technology should be encouraged not hindered by unwarranted barriers. The distribution of OLPCs is difficult enough as it is, lets not make it worse!
Feb 1st, 2008 at 5:24 pm
West Covina Criminal Defense Attorney
Don’t believe everything you read about Nigeria. I get so many e-mails saying the relatives of some Nigerian official passed away and they need my help holding their money etc. I just put it in the spam box.
Feb 1st, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Blackpool Hotels
I think if someone is granted a patent it should be stipulated that they develop the technology within X years or the patent is revoked. That should stop patent-squating.
Feb 2nd, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Mattresses
that is rather sad.
Feb 5th, 2008 at 11:38 am
trampoline safety
Unfortunately, Nigeria has such a bad rep so I didn’t believe it for one minute.
Feb 7th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Seventies Hairstyle
This is a real sad news. Can anything be done?
Feb 10th, 2008 at 3:17 am
Adam
Any updates on whats happened so far?
Feb 12th, 2008 at 12:43 am
Cynthia - Top Registry Cleaners
Why does Nigeria continually get a trashed reputation? A few bad apples spoil the bunch. What a shame.
Feb 12th, 2008 at 10:51 am
online equity trading
It’s sad that there are people out there trying to change the world…and then people who are out there that are so money hungry, that they get in the way of progress.
online equity trading’s last blog post..Online Equity Trading
Feb 15th, 2008 at 10:46 am
canvas prints
Oh , it is a sad News, any further information about the situation??
Feb 19th, 2008 at 12:33 am
Mario
Haha! I agree with James. Whenever you see Nigeria in an article, immediately dismiss it.
Feb 21st, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Ginger
This reminds me of an e-mail I received claiming to be from an African organization donating laptops. It asked for a Western Union payment in multiples of $100 to donate laptops to kids in village schools. There was nothing legit about it, so please don’t be fooled by the criminals trying to take advantage of your kindness.
Ginger’s last blog post..I Love Easter Chocolate Gift Basket
Feb 22nd, 2008 at 11:43 pm
auction
OLPC is a great organization. They are truly trying to make the world a better place. I hope that greedy companies like LANCOR can not stop OLPC from achieving it’s goals.
Feb 25th, 2008 at 8:21 am
Free Online Recipes
Dont believe anything that comes from nigeria. I really hope this isn’t true. Please keep us updated.
Free Online Recipes’s last blog post..Chicken Parmesan Recipe
Feb 25th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
How Much Does RegCure Cost
Any more news? Unfortunately Nigeria gets a bad rep in all this. There’s been a long litany of “nigerian scams” and it’s just unfortunate.
Feb 26th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Smiley
That’s a shame I hope that they won’t win! Is it true?
Smiley’s last blog post..Nouveaux modèles de MacBook et MacBook Pro
Feb 26th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Javi
Crap, just when something is done to uplift other countries, this thing comes up.
Javi’s last blog post..The End Of My Free Blogger Template Search
Feb 26th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Birgit
We need no conflict, we must all live in peace.
Feb 29th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Bill
We must not let bad things happen in our life.
Mar 1st, 2008 at 4:24 am
Marc
Line between rightful protection of intellectual property(and making profit from it) and simply being greedy and selfish just because you happen to be first on something and stop all other from using and benefiting from it gets thinner and thinner all the time it seems.
Marc’s last blog post..Is Clutter Making You Unhealthy?
Mar 1st, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Rich |Windows Registry Cleaner Program That Fixes Many Registry Problems
I have to say this is a disturbing report.
what can be done?
Rich
Rich |Windows Registry Cleaner Program That Fixes Many Registry Problems’s last blog post..Windows Registry Cleaner Program That Fixes Many Registry Problems
Mar 2nd, 2008 at 5:40 am
John
Interesting read!
Mar 5th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Chris Stormer
This is a perfect example of misuse of the patent law. This decision can lead to several losses including the economical loss by causing hindrances in development of a country.
Mar 8th, 2008 at 5:07 am
Nightclub Los Angeles
I have to agree, however Nigeria is not the only offender(just very pronounced).
I have gotten an uncountable amount of spam/scam from not only nigeria but also from the UK, Hong Kong, and many other places.
In fact when added with scams promoting Job offers, inheritance, Your email is the lucky winner, here lies so and so on their death bed with a cancerous condition and I bequeath to you(yea you ,the one who is addressed as “dear friend “)my many millions left to me by my late mate, but you have to do it without telling anyone cause I don’t want my mates family to know about it,LETTERS. IT HAS BECOME A REAL WORLD WIDE PROBLEM.
I’m sure that if I answered all of them I would be a billionaire by now!
Trouble is it’s all funny money, out to get into your real money!
best thing to do is to realize that there are no lotteries,job offers,or bank executives,Barristers (lawyers), dieing millionaires,
writing to you without addressing you by name , who are real.
Fantasy is fun but can also be dangerous to your computer as some of these also contain viruses and worms which go into your computer upon opening the emails
My thought? Don’t open them, if you don’t know them! James
Mar 8th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Heritage Tees
haha, anything having to do with nigeria is always interesting. their main export is literally scams.
Mar 10th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
David Williams
I have to agree with you. Nigeria is not the only one to offend. Instead there are many from other countries. As US is becoming a happy nation, many other countries are following it.
David Williams’s last blog post..Cost Effective Transportation on Two Wheels
Mar 13th, 2008 at 12:38 am
Makeup Junkie
Yeah, how did you find out about this? I hope you’ll update us with more information on this subject.
Makeup Junkie’s last blog post..Bare Escentuals Big Tease Mascara
Mar 13th, 2008 at 3:34 am
Storage Alexandria
dude fuck that shit man I’m really sorry about that.
Mar 14th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Stan Low Cost Car Insurance
I have to say I dont really care if OLPC makes it or not. they have been doing a super crappy job with the management of donations.
Stan Low Cost Car Insurance’s last blog post..California Commercial Auto Insurance
Mar 14th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Makeup Junkie
@Stan
What kinds of things have they done that weren’t kosher as far as the management of donations are concerned? I’d like to hear more about that…
Makeup Junkie’s last blog post..Bare Escentuals Big Tease Mascara
Mar 16th, 2008 at 1:10 am
David Williams
Lancor is doing right by filing a lawsuit against Nicholas Negroponte.Nigeriens are not the only people to offend,I think many other countries are doing it.
David Williams’s last blog post..The Truth Behind Anabolic Steroids
Mar 18th, 2008 at 8:56 am
Clothing Man
It’s alright! It’s hard to post a blog every day when you actually have a life that doesn’t revolve around sitting on the computer!
Mar 18th, 2008 at 10:46 am
adult dyslexia
Hey haven’t heard from you in a while, whats up?
adult dyslexia’s last blog post..Impacts Of Dyslexia
Mar 18th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
How to get a flat stomach
I think it would be absolutely devastating if LANCOR were to actually win this lawsuit.
Mar 18th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Music.Podfire.org
I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog.
Mar 20th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Crown Listings
That’s a shame
Mar 20th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Marques
You always should be carefully when there are news about Nigeria because a lot of bunk news came in the last time from there.
Marques’s last blog post..Schimmel an Wänden - Nein, danke!
Mar 25th, 2008 at 5:36 am
iPod accessorizer
Yes, always be careful about news when it comes to Nigeria. Nigerian scams are all over the place.
iPod accessorizer’s last blog post..Bose Portable iPod Sounddock Digital Speaker System
Mar 25th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Vista Sidebar Gadgets
Fortunately, this is not true. I think the OLPC is a great initiative, however, other big business are trying to kill it, because they want to be the firsts in these developing nations. Shame on you big business!
Mar 26th, 2008 at 9:42 am
Niche Traffic Sale
Hang on a minute guys, and i don’t mean the spammers.
The core of the matter is patent fraud. Now i do not care who the plaintiffs or defendants are or where they come from, but if there has been an infringement, it needs to be addressed.
I own an internet marketing business and would be royally pissed if some company stole my ideas, especially if i have gone to the trouble of getting a patent. Even if it is a do gooder organization, i would still sue as well.
Everyone has rights, Nigerian or not!!!
Niche Traffic Sale’s last blog post..How Affiliate Marketing Works by Rosalind Gardner
Apr 5th, 2008 at 12:02 am
Alabama Insurance Agent
This all gets even more confusing when patents are being looked at from not just different company points of view but by different cultural points of view. Nice post - stirred up a lot of comments.
Apr 9th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Trends Depot
can someone give me an update ?
Apr 13th, 2008 at 1:07 am
Gambling Man
Ya thats not right hopefully LANCOR will withdraw their lawsuit and have a little pity for the developing countries.
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Jay Sean
shame on them!
May 6th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
surf proxy
Great post, thanks
May 13th, 2008 at 7:55 am
Asus Eee PC 900 Review
Good to know this! I hate them now!
May 20th, 2008 at 4:11 am
application development
It’s very unfortunate….I m with u..
May 21st, 2008 at 6:21 am
Christian Homeschool
Hopefully they don’t win!
Jun 6th, 2008 at 10:03 am
surf proxy
interesting
Jun 9th, 2008 at 9:14 am
Fort Mill Tennessee
Yes it is interesting! lol!
Jun 16th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Kung Fu Community
Any updates on whats happened so far?
Jun 22nd, 2008 at 3:38 am
BigMusicLover
thanks for link, very useful information!
Jun 23rd, 2008 at 2:16 am
Riley Jensen
I’ll tell u this.. What would my grandmother think of it?
Jun 30th, 2008 at 4:34 am
Viagra Man
Thank you! Full story is interesting.
Jul 9th, 2008 at 5:40 am
Monavie
That is sad. You’ll have to keep us posted on who wins.
Jul 9th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
hank freid
I think it is good report. Thanks for sharing this one.
Jul 9th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
nepali music videos
Ya thats not right hopefully LANCOR will withdraw their lawsuit and have a little pity for the developing countries.
Jul 10th, 2008 at 1:18 am
nepali music videos
I’ll tell u this.. What would my grandmother think of it?
Jul 10th, 2008 at 1:20 am
hellenes
ya it is sad news but interesting.
Jul 10th, 2008 at 1:55 am
Shruti Hassan
The OLPC project has been a major let down so far. And now, more so with them choosing XP over the FOSS stuff.
Shruti Hassan’s last blog post..By: Luke I’m your Father
Jul 11th, 2008 at 2:13 am
nepali modelling
can someone give me an update too?
Jul 20th, 2008 at 4:24 am
Sudba
Thank you for sharing an informative post.
National Online the Cinema
Jul 20th, 2008 at 9:08 am
Japanese Hair Salon
nice report……
Jul 21st, 2008 at 12:36 am
Carpet Cleaners Manhattan
Thanks for the post. Its interesting but dont worry they will not win.
Jul 21st, 2008 at 1:00 am
Buzz
I agree with you we need no conflict : we have to live in peace.
Buzz’s last blog post..DISCOBITCH - C’EST BEAU LA BOURGEOISIE (PAROLES CLIP VIDEO)
Jul 29th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Online Newsletter
Nice information, thnx buddy
Aug 4th, 2008 at 6:06 am
Computer Certification
I am pleased about the interesting contributions and would like to express my radix complement in addition. This post is just great. Just keep on writing these kinds of posts.
Aug 11th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Calabria Real Estate
Good to know this.Thank you so much.
Aug 18th, 2008 at 8:56 am
awundrin
Thanks for sharing that—this is the first time I had heard about it.
Sep 16th, 2008 at 2:03 am
Teeth Whitening Reviews
I’m not quite sure how being in favour of open-source software prevents you from violating other peoples intellectual property. If anything, you would seem MORE willing to do it, because generally you don’t believe that patents should exist.”
You know of any example? You know of any FOSS project leader advocating or stimulating it? Or is it just a general ignorance or disdain for FOSS that made you insult FOSS programmers?
On the other hand, do you know of any MS product, to pick only one proprietary company, that has NOT been shown to infringe on patents or copyrights?
Sep 23rd, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Bumper Sticker Printing
Success of OLPC now depends largely on frontline teachers and, of course, parents and kids. Peru’s effort, if successful, would be a model for other nations. In the training now under way, teachers must become versed not only in how to operate and maintain the laptops, but also in how to do their jobs within a newly laptop-centric educational model. The laptops will contain some 115 books, including textbooks, novels, and poetry, as well as art and music programs, cameras, and other goodies. What many of these kids won’t get is Internet access: about 90 percent of the villages lack it, and may not get it anytime soon
Sep 26th, 2008 at 2:32 am
Canvas art
It was so hard to believe; this news sounds rather disturbing and stupid. Is there going to be more detailed information?
Sep 30th, 2008 at 6:58 am
perdere peso
If it has to do with Nigeria, then you really don’t know if it true or not.
perdere peso’s last blog post..Scienziati Di Fama Mondiale Per Herbalife
Oct 6th, 2008 at 8:58 pm