why IPv6 isn't ready for prime time, SMTP edition

Sun Mar 30 00:38:30 UTC 2014

On March 29, 2014 at 22:37 johnl at iecc.com (John Levine) wrote:
 > >But I think it introduces all sorts of complexities for not much
 > >gain. Needs more thinking, including "is this really a problem that
 > >needs to be solved?"
 > 
 > Don't forget "Vanquish was a complete failure, so why would this be
 > any different?" and "do I want Phil Raymond to sue me for violating
 > the patent on this exact scheme?" 

That was a specific reply by me to a specific suggestion of a
mechanism refunding e-postage to the sender if one wanted an e-mail or
leaving the charge if not.

As I said I think it's overly complex in implementation and not of
much benefit.

I don't see where Vanquish does any of this from the product site tho
I could look at the patents, they might cover more than they used in
products of course.

HOWEVER:

a) If you really were referring to the context of that remark,
refunding postage to desired senders, not much problem since I don't
see that as useful anyhow.

b) If there's some broader context, well, patents can get licensed and
otherwise negotiated so I don't know why anyone would be suing anyone.

This reminds me of when I was working on a Rock & Roll 50th
Anniversary site and we'd put up materials licensed for use by the
site.

And I'd get this non-stop stream of YOU WILL GET SUED! emails from
people who merely visited the site, many DEMANDING we immediately
produce proof to them that the material was properly licensed or take
it down IMMEDIATELY! And they would be CHECKING! etc.

Some would even phone the office and scream at me.

None were owners or had any interest in the materials which, as I
said, were all properly licensed. There was never any actual problem,
not a hint.

Gratuitous anecdote:

The only (very tiny, funny) problem we ever had was when Elvis Presley
Enterprises (which is, yes, that Elvis Presley) printed up T-shirts
using some of our slogans which we clearly marked as TM.

I sent them a letter offering a $0 license to print as many T-shirts
as they like if they just mentioned us in their ads in some friendly
way once in a while...LET'S TALK! I mean, hey, this is Elvis Presley
Enterprises! Respect to The King.

I got back this amazing letter from what must have been a strip mall
lawyer, the stationery was truly cheesy (it had logs on it, some sort
of good ol' boy western theme I guess), asserting that we had no
rights in those slogans because we were NOT in the T-shirt/Apparel
business (i.e., USPTO category.)

I dropped the matter because it was just too silly to even respond to
and figured if it ever seemed to make a difference I'd worry about it.
They didn't seem to be selling too many of those T-shirts anyhow, and
now they'd been informed and had acknowledged notice which is half the
game.

Nothing came of it. Not much came of the site either, unfortunately
tho I did get to meet a lot of interesting people. Bo Diddley called
me once to tell me how great he thought it all was and could he help!

 > R's,
 > John
 > 
 > PS: You must have met him at one of the spam conferences.  I met him a
 > few times.

Maybe, I'm looking at his picture and his face doesn't ring a bell but
he seems to be here in the Boston area so if there were a mutual
interest I suppose a meeting would be easy enough.

-- 
        -Barry Shein

The World              | bzs at TheWorld.com           | http://www.TheWorld.com
Purveyors to the Trade | Voice: 800-THE-WRLD        | Dial-Up: US, PR, Canada
Software Tool & Die    | Public Access Internet     | SINCE 1989     *oo*