Everything about British Telecom totally explained
an all-inclusive package which offers a free, internet-capable smartphone – the BT ToGo and BT’s Total Broadband service in the home. BT's "Web patent"
In 2001 BT discovered it owned a
patent which it believed gave it patent rights on the use of
hyperlink technology on the
World Wide Web. The corresponding UK patent had already expired, but the US patent was valid until
2006.
Opponents of BT's claim held that the patent had never been valid, due to prior art by both
Douglas Engelbart and
Ted Nelson's
Project Xanadu. Nevertheless on
February 11,
2002, BT began a court case relating to its claims in a US federal court against the
Internet service provider Prodigy Communications Corporation. The U.S. court ruled on
August 22,
2002 that the BT patent wasn't applicable to Web technology, and granted Prodigy's request for summary judgement.
See BT’s “Hyperlinking” Patent Litigation Fails
. The issue of prior art was thus not addressed.
Controversy
Data pimping
In early 2008 it was announced that BT had entered into a contract (along with
Virgin Media and
Talk Talk) with the former
spyware company
Phorm (responsible under their 121Media guise for the Apropos
rootkit) to intercept and analyse their users' click-stream data, and sell the anonymised aggregate information as part of Phorm's OIX advertising service. The practice, which has become known as "
data pimping", came under intense fire from various internet communities and other interested-parties who believe that the interception of data is illegal under UK law (RIPA). At a more fundamental level, many have argued that the ISPs and Phorm have no right to sell a commodity (a user's data) to which they've no claim of ownership. In response to questions about Phorm and the interception of data by the Webwise system
Sir Tim Berners-Lee is quoted as saying:
"It's mine - you can't have it. If you want to use it for something, then you've to negotiate with me." - Sir Tim Berners-Lee: 2008
Further Information
Get more info on 'British Telecom'.
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