Singapore: now with 99% less images!

Agnostic Bear · 14-06-2008, 08:01 PM

You may have heard this around the internet and on blogging sites, Singapore based Vuestar Technologies has filed a patent (Singapore Patent No. 95940). What does this mean? 99% less images and 100% more lawsuites. The most important part is Singapore allowed this and it's now an actual patent.

Calling themselves "pioneers of visual search technology" don't let the name fool you, this isn't just for search engines and spiders, this is for every image that links somewhere.

Basically what this patent is, is a patent on "Image Linking", or as Vuestar calls it "Method of locating web-pages by utilising visual images" meaning in Singapore, anyone who uses an image of any sort that relates to a webpage (take my site, jewbear.net for example, has a large image saying "jewbear.net") will be charged a "license fee" to be able to continue to use this images that link to a web page.

What does this mean to you? If they continue going ahead, and get patents in the major countries (they already have Australia and New Zealand) such as the USA, all websites linking to websites etc will be forced to pay a fee to them to continue using this, including charities and the government and more importantly your isp will also have to pay, meaning increasing costs for accessing the internet and probably prohibited access.

They've already been sending out invoices of upto £1750~ attempting to get people in Singapore to sign upto this license, or risk being sued, with collection agencies after the costs, and the threat of not being able to use any images that link to other websites for the users of the internet in Singapore.

What are your opinions on this?

Read more here: http://www.builderau.com.au/news/pri...27t-320000982c