Hate patent trolls who try to extort money from small indie devs on the iOS Store? Wish Apple would clobber them? The Electronic Frontier Foundation does too, and they’re loudly and publicly hoping that Apple smashes Lodsys into a fine, gelatin paste.
In a statement today over at the official EFF blog, Julie Samuels argues at length that Apple should stand up and defend iOS developers from Lodsys’ attacks.
Unfortunately, suing app developers – who often lack the resources required to defend a lawsuit – is a trend we’re seeing more and more often.
hat’s different here, however, is that Apple provides this functionality to its developers and requires that they use it. Apple itself is protected from liability – Apple took a license from Lodsys’ predecessor to use this very patent (which was likely part of a larger blanket license). And the apparently one-sided Apple-developer agreement does not require that Apple indemnify developers from suits based on technology that Apple provides.
This is a problem that lawyers call a misallocation of burden…. By putting the burden on those least able to shoulder it, both Apple and Lodys are harming not just developers but also the consumers who will see fewer apps and less innovation. We hope that going forward companies like Apple will do what’s right and stand up for their developers and help teach the patent trolls a lesson.
The whole post is worth a read, and a good explanation on why what Lodsys is doing is so scummy and troubling. We imagine Apple will have no choice but to get involved in this dispute, but whether or not that can happen before Lodsys actually starts filing some lawsuits against honest devs… well, that’s another story.
