There's freedom in producing a podcast. Every day, creative people are pumping out free content, including hilarious roundtable discussions or informative news programs. But the culture of podcasting is under attack from an altogether irritating source: the patent troll.
Recently, the Electronic Frontier Foundation put a call out to podcasters, asking anyone who is facing a patent suit to step forward. Yes, some jerks are actually trying to claim patent infringement on podcasts.
"A company called Personal Audio is claiming that it owns a patent that covers podcasting technology and has sent podcasters letters, demanding that they pay Personal Audio to use the technology," writes EFF's Julie Samuels. "As with many patents, this one is dangerously broad and vague, allegedly covering, well, any and all podcasting."
The troll in question, Personal Audio, was founded in 1996 "with a mission of offering personalized audio to listeners over the Internet." You may have heard of the company before: they successfully sued Apple back in 2009 over iTunes. Apple ended up paying $8 million.
Oh, the life of a patent troll. Personal Audio was founded by three men: Jim Logan, Dan Goessling, and Charles Call; the latter of the group being a patent attorney, himself. You'll notice the company's website contains no discernible products, just short blurbs about their awesome patents and how good they are at suing people.
High-profile podcasts, like the Adam Carolla Show, have already received lawsuit notices. The EFF has set up an email account, podcasting@eff.org, where affected 'casters can contact the organization for help.
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