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Ric Richardson reaction to negative press on Uniloc vs Mojang

DISCLAIMER: Please note that Ric is not a principle at Uniloc, does not speak for the company,  neither does he have influence over the companies actions since he is only a non majority shareholder. Further, Ric is the inventor of the 216 patent which was the centre of the court case with Microsoft. HE IS NOT the inventor of the patent at dispute with Mojang.

I awoke this morning to a large number of emails and tweets decrying Uniloc's actions regarding a law suit against Swedish firm Mojang. Firstly, besides having shares in Uniloc this has little else to do with me. The disputed patent is not mine, and I have had no communication with the company about the matter.

That said, I also feel compelled to say something regarding all of the strong language and accusations being thrown around on twitter, in the press and some rather disgusting emails sent to me personally because I had the audacity to put my email address on my site. [Which I am now sadly forced to remove]

From the first day the importance of patents was explained to me I have tried to act responsibly with the trust given to me by the many people who gave their time, effort and investment to help insure the technologies ultimate success.

One expression that comes to my mind is the saying that having a great technology without a patent is like having a Lamborghini and leaving the keys in it.

Well back in 1992 when I invented the 216 Uniloc technology it truly was unique. No one had done this before. In the early 90's we did "try and buy" cover disk campaigns on magazines that travelled the world. In fact if most software designers are honest they will agree that the idea of locking serial numbers to specific machines came from products they saw that somehow link back to those early days.

Yes. I filed a patent back then.

Well I'm sorry if you don't think its right to protect yourself. I think it's irresponsible to involve others in an enterprise when you don't do everything you reasonably can to protect their interests as well as your own.

Just think about the logic here. The people complaining about the law suits here are complaining that a company is trying to protect it's own right to make a living from a technology that the patent office has verified as unique and novel. If you disagree then track the patent office and voice your problems with the patents as they are published.

And yet, the technology in question is a system that stops people from pirating their software and helps them make money. Well if you think it's so unfair, don't use the tech. Do something else. No one is forcing you to use the technology.

It amazes me that people complain about paying a royalty for a technology that stops up to a third of a software companies sales from being lost to piracy. What are you saying? "Its all right to steal from Uniloc as long as it helps stop pirates stealing from me?"

Finally, to the personal attacks at me.
I am not a patent troll.
I am the inventor of the 216 patent.
I worked nearly two decades to make the technology a success.
I am not a money hungry megalomaniac

In fact it has been well documented that my wife and I like to keep our life pretty simple and have dedicated all our non essential resources to a cause we support.

Further, I think it's a sad thing to see people making inflammatory remarks from the cheap seats. The Internet can be a real disappointing place when people can mouth off without taking responsibility for their actions. Just sad.

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