Amazon is being sued by IBM
I see on the front page of the FT today the amazing story that Amazon is being sued by IBM for the alledged ‘unlicensed’ use of IBM patented techniques.
Whats amazing is that these techniques include such everyday things like:- “use of hypertext links to make recommendations to customers”- “methods for presenting and linking to online adverts”- “networking architecture for delivering online content faster”
WHAT HAS AMAZON DONE TO UPSET IBM!!!
Aren’t these some of the most basic features of the web, isnt it amazing that IBM should have patents on some of these (ok, so I don’t know the details of the claims, we could be talking something extra-special here), and isn’t it crazy that someone is being sued for using them. My guess is its a lot less to do with teh actual breahc of patents and much more to do with IBM trying to put pressure on Amazon to do something or other that IBM wants.
Crazy.