JPEG Patent Claim Sparks Concern. An Austin software company's claim that it owns a patent for the compression technique used in JPEG images is raising techies' hackles. By Joanna Glasner. [Wired News]

Awww, man.  A patent on JPEG?  They didn't innovate, they bought this freakin' patent, it's gonna expire in four years, and now they're pointing a gun at the head of every business that has been legitimately using JPEG for years.  We shouldn't stand for this thuggery.  Just because their risky business model has failed doesn't make it okay for them to exploit our broken patent system to terrorize the tech community with rabid patent lawyers.  This is wrong and should be illegal.

10:34:46 AM