It seems every day I read something even more mindboggling about the Internet. Specifically, how the Law is interpreting the Internet.Today’s jaw-dropping news is the fact some company called BT Group Plc is claiming patent rights on hypertext links. They claim they should receive a fee for every use of a hypertext link (that being the bit of click here text which allows a user to get from one page to another). Apparently BT was actually granted this patent in 1989. So I guess my beef is less with them than with the Patent Office itself.
Simply stated, they’re idiots.
These are the same dumbasses who granted Amazon patent rights for their one-click shopping cookie (allowing your browser to remember your visits) and for their affiliate program (where you could place links to them on your webpages and get a percentage of a sale if someone clicked on them) — despite the fact Amazon did not create these nor was first in implementing them. They got patent rights simply because they asked for them. Or, should I say they had the gall or the hubris to ask for them.
The fact BT Group was granted rights is stupid. The fact they’re fighting for these rights is ridiculous. It’s also much too late. I apologize for lapsing into convoluted technical jargon and legalese but to quote a famous barrister “the barn door was left open and the horses have escaped.” If the RIAA can’t figure out a way to keep people from sharing music files, I would love to see BT try and enforce their patent on every single personal web page. It might even be worthwhile to see them collective throw their hands up and declare “This is futile! We give up!” But it would be even more worthwhile if they realized this was a pointless case to begin with, and that they realized that without pages linking to other pages there would be no Internet at all.
Oh for a world — virtual or otherwise — where stuff makes sense.
