[squid-users] Vixie Patents "Transparent Web Caching"

Hopefully the list will be interested in this story on Slashdot:
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/06/26/0535202&mode=thread&tid=155&
tid=99

I'll reproduce the leader from the article here:

"BIND author and all-around Internet personality Paul Vixie and Mirror Image
Internet have recently received US patent 6,581,090, specifically
'..technology that efficiently stores and retrieves content requests and
balances Web traffic between origin servers to improve performance and
speed' - sounds an awful lot like what Akamai do. There's a press release
from last week that gives some lovely 'details', including this little gem
from CEO Alexander M. Vik: 'We anticipate that these patents and our
technology solutions will encourage large groups of corporations to become
customers of Mirror Image services. We also recognize that this technology
is a critical component of other content delivery services and we'll be
attempting to work cooperatively with our competitors and their customers to
address this issue.' Can you say 'patent infringement suit'?"

Some comments on SlashDot note that an OpenBSD/ipf/ipnat/squid combination
may fall under this banner.

Sam Pointer
UNIX, Security & Network Administration
HPD Software Limited
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 8780 6800
Fax: + 44 (0) 20 8780 6801

This email and any attachments are strictly confidential and are intended
solely for the addressee. If you are not the intended recipient you must
not disclose, forward, copy or take any action in reliance on this message
or its attachments. If you have received this email in error please notify
the sender as soon as possible and delete it from your computer systems.
Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not
necessarily reflect those of HPD Software Limited or its affiliates.

 At present the integrity of email across the internet cannot be guaranteed
and messages sent via this medium are potentially at risk. All liability
is excluded to the extent permitted by law for any claims arising as a re-
sult of the use of this medium to transmit information by or to
HPD Software Limited or its affiliates.
Received on Thu Jun 26 2003 - 07:03:24 MDT