Marc
At 4:45 PM 1/25/95, Linas Vepstas wrote:
>I read months ago that Netscape Communications had been sued
>by Spyglass for patent infringement. I didn't pay much heed then,
>but you're right -- this could be important. Does anyone have any
>more detailed or factual info?
>
>--linas
>
>(The suit was filed round Comdex time, where Netscape had upstaged
>Spyglass in the glitz & hype department, despite Spyglasses "older"
>product. I thought the suit concerned secure transactions,
>e.g. crypto for financial transactions ??? ).
>
>> From: Leonardo@aol.com
>> Date: Tue, 24 Jan 1995 19:24:48 -0500
>> Subject: NCSA patents on MOSAIC ???!!!
>>
>> WARNING:
>>
>> An article published in last Sunday's Chicago Tribune suggests that the
>> University of Illinois has applied for several patents on technology relating
>> to MOSAIC. If this is true, then they appear to be getting ready for a
>> Unisys/Compuserve-style "hook them then cook them" move against the Internet
>> community.
>>
>> Here's an excerpt from the article:
>>
>> >TITLE: "Microsoft deal lights up Naperville software innovator"
>> >
>> >By Ronald E. Yates
>> >Tribune Staff Writer
>> >Printed 1/22/95
>> >
>> >...Microsoft was eager for the Spyglass deal because the young
>> >company controls the patents to Mosaic, the original software that
>> >converts the complexities of the Internet into a mouse-controlled
>> >graphical form. Mosaic makes the entire Internet look much like
>> >what computer users encounter on their desktops with Microsoft
>> > >Windows or the Apple Macintosh...
>>
>> This may have just been a factual error on the part of the Tribune writer,
>> but the potential seriousness of what it suggests must not be ignored.
-- Marc Andreessen Netscape Communications Corporation Mountain View, CA marca@mcom.com