As an avid podcast listener, I am disgusted about something that is happening in our country’s Federal Court system. A Patent Troll named “Personal Audio” is suing the Adam Carolla Podcast for a patent violation. They bought a very general patent for a “System for disseminating media content representing episodes in a serialized sequence.”
Personal Audio doesn’t have much of a legal leg to stand on…. right? Unfortunately, they do. Personal Audio has sued Apple that it held patents on the concept of “playlists”. Playlists?!?!?! Basically every broken-hearted teen that made their girlfriend a mix tape in the 80s should expect to be served papers any minute now.
Who are these vampires? Personal Audio is a shell corporation with a PO Box / Empty Office in East Texas. Why East Texas? Because it remains, by far, the most popular place for patent lawsuits (U-S-A!!!). Personal Audio also carefully selects the amount of money they go after to encourage the plaintiff (in this case, Carolla) to settle out of court – rather than rack up legal fees. They are supported by Patent Troll Lobbyists, and they seem to have quite a bit of “influence” with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (U-S-A!!!), who recently squashed a bipartisan compromise minutes before it hit the floor.
If Personal Audio succeeds in their efforts with Carolla, they will then have legal backing to go after EVERY podcast. Thankfully the Ace Man is not rolling over and giving in; he intends to take fight the case in court.
Is Carolla’s personal brand enough to effect change? It depends on whether or not his followers actually do something about the situation. What can they do? It’s as easy as 1…2… Well, just 1…2.
- Donate to the Adam Carolla defense fund here.
- Learn more about patent reform and what can be done by watching this video:
Mahalo
Jaime Hamel, Digital Strategist, The S3 Agency
