Comment by nikcub | Hacker News Reader

Comment by nikcub | Hacker News Reader

The most embarrassing part of this story is that Ric Richardson, the Australian founder of Uniloc, is portrayed in the media in Australia as an entrepreneurial hero.

He had his own 'Australian Story' feature:

http://www.abc.net.au/austory/specials/thebigdeal/default.ht...

And has been profiled numerous times as brilliant genius entrepreneur in the newspapers:

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/the-beautif...

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/04/19/1240079538770.html

As far as I am concerned this type of coverage is a complete embarrassment for the Australian tech scene and honest entrepreneurs from this country. Not once in any of this coverage of Uniloc is the issue raised of small companies being sued and threatened.

If you follow me on Twitter you would have seen that I have been tracking his media coverage for years now and getting in touch with journalists in order to get the other side of this patent trolling out and known to the public. It was all to no effect.

This guy didn't invent anything, he is simply taking advantage of an antiquated patent system to profit from the work of others. It is funny how in none of these stories is it mentioned that what he does only works in the USA.

If you are from Australia help us out the next time you see a story or feature on Ric and paste in a comment about how he is helping destroy small software startups.

He presented at the recent SydStart event/convention here in Sydney. The crowd was largely skeptical of him and his patents, and he had to cajole the audience into agreeing with him that one of his "inventions" was actually patentable.

I find it sad that a man like this is invented to speak to 900 entrepreneurs and actually given some credence. He seems like a smart guy, but patents aren't a friend of the startup community.

If you want to contact @pc0 who organised the latest SydStart event and register your displeasure at Ric being one of the main speakers at this largely awesome event that might be interesting.

I had somebody email me about the same event, I am definitely going to follow up on it - thanks for the info.

I am also going to write a post about it this weekend and forward it to the journalists who have covered Uniloc in the Australian media, to try and get the other side of the story out.

Nik, Im sure if you actually talked to me you'd find that Im just a normal bloke who likes inventing things that hopefully someone will use. Ive sold a few inventions over the years and its great to make a living at what I love doing...Id ask you as one fellow technologist to another to not make it personal. Please.

I was there too.. as the speaker! And the inventions I talked about got a big clap... where you not there? That is the other side of the story. Most people can see when someone is trying to make technological breakthroughs and they give them a bit of support. Its easy to sit around backbiting.

As the inventor of the 216 patent it was pretty ahead of its time... millions of dollars in litigation investment proved that. While I understand the companies (Uniloc's) position in executing patent rights for other patents they own I do appreciate it when people check and find that I am not the inventor of record and also am no longer in the management or board of Uniloc. The personal attacks sure get tiresome.

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