up by patent suits

based Pat-rights. They are filing suit alleging that Apple’s digital rights management technology, called Fairplay, violates Patrights patent that was granted to them in December of 2003.

“This is certainly a patentable technology,” he said in a prepared statement released in late February. “If iTunes does not patent it, there must be a very good reason for them not to do so; someone else has patented this.”

His company is seeking 12 percent of Apple iTunes music store sales and has given Apple 21 days to comply. If they do not comply within the three week time span, a copyright infringement suit will be filed.

According to a MacNewsWorld.com article published on March 9, “twelve percent represents a hefty sum, considering Apple shipped 4.58 million iPods during the first quarter of 2005 alone. What’s more, Apple announced [two weeks ago] that iTunes Music Store downloads have surpassed 300 million.”

If Pat-rights files suit, they will be seeking damages up to three times its original value. Be that as it may, a reasonable value has not yet been determined by the company.

However, lawsuits such as the ones being filed against Apple, are bound to happen. According to Michael Lasky, patent and trademark attorney at the Minneapolis-based Altera Law Group, “If a company is successful, especially a technology company, there will be patent suits.”

In the same TopTechNews article that was published March 8, he said that, “technologies like DRM — a relatively new strategy pushed to the public to stem the flow of digital music piracy — have several associated patents that have not yet been tested in the courts. Apple might find that the company’s Fairplay DRM technology could be a test case for new patent law decisions.”

“Courts are beginning to look more closely at suits involving technology and intellectual property,” said Lasky. “But there’s still a great deal left to be decided.”

This is an opinion echoed by Stephen Baker, director of industry analysis at the research firm NPD Group who said he is not surprised by the recent charges against Apple. “Patent lawsuits come with the territory,” he said.

In a MacNewsWorld.com article published on March 9, he said, “It is common for successful products and successful companies to face allegations from other companies claiming that they’ve done it before or done it better. It remains to be seen...whether these latest claims have any merit.”

KRISTIN AGOSTINELLI STAFF WRITER KMA724@CABRINI EDU

Eager students awaited the music of J.P. Williams on Wednesday, March 9th in Jazzman’s Café.

Brought to Cabrini by CAP Board, this new age singer/songwriter was a welcome distraction for students wanting to enjoy a good show and relax before the rush of the semester starts.

What makes J.P. Williams so intriguing is that while honing his skills as a guitar player in his younger days, he slowly went blind as a child. Born blind in his right eye, he later succumbed to glaucoma in his left eye. This did not stop J.P. in his quest for stardom and love of music. He polished his skills on the guitar and now is a regular in such places as the Bluebird Café in Nashville, and has opened for acts such as Bruce Hornsby, CCR, and Edwin McCain.

Playing a little over an hour set, J.P. performed songs that he had written himself, while in between telling a little story about each and his life up till now. Performing in small clubs and fairly decent venues, he is happy with the way his career is going.

J.P.’s popularity is growing immensely as well. He has recently been a finalist in the Southeastern Region of Nashville Star and Eddie’s Attic Shootout in 2004. He also found himself to be a runner-up in the 2004 BMI Rock Boat Competition.

During J.P.’s stay here at Cabrini, he performed songs from his new CD entitled “Where’s the Stage?” You can buy his CD through http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/jpwill iams. “La La Land,” “TongueTied,” and “Underdog” are just a slither of the songs that were played for students at Jazzman’s on Wednesday night. J.P. Williams is an enormously talented man with potential to be a star. His fan base is growing more and more each day, and he is a new and upcoming artist that you do not want to miss.