Tuesday, May 06, 2014

Future of Podcasting May Hang in the Balance

Posted By Douglas V. Gibbs

James Logan freely admits that he's never made a podcast.

But he also insists he helped create the medium of podcasting. Logan says that it happened in 1996 — and that he has the patents to prove it.

In a controversial legal battle, PersonalAudio, the company founded by Logan, is suing comedian Adam Carolla's ACE Broadcasting, two other podcasters and networks Fox, CBS and NBC, saying they are infringing on his copyright and owe him money.

The trial begins in September. Carolla has taken to the Web to raise money for legal fees against what he called "patent trolls."

Despite the history with Texas patent trials, Li says the trial is an "uphill battle" for PersonalAudio.

"This case is so contentious," she says. "It would rule invalid so many of the activities that are out there now, and all people will be impacted."

Anyone who has a prerecorded show that's available for subscription or download would be violating Logan's patent. That would include not just Carolla but streaming video services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, along with any of the broadcast TV websites.


-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

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