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A comment on EA has made five of its accessibility patents free for any studio to use. Parent comment

Re:EA has made five of its accessibility patents free for an... by munk-a on Tuesday August 24, 2021 @06:34PM (#28295828)
I'm not a fan of EA and I feel like this restriction probably wasn't a strict requirement by legal (while as the opposite might be very good counsel - refusing access to any patented material while another party is believed to be infringing on other IP of your). But like... it's free so either this has no impact on your life because you choose not to use it over it being a potential landmine legally - or you make use of it.

Either way I think this move is at minimum neutral and probably a net good.

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Re:EA has made five of its accessibility patents free for an... by ipaddr on Tuesday August 24, 2021 @07:01PM (#28296054)
This seems like a good thing but it is a bad thing for anyone who chooses to use it. EA can mistreat anyone using this in any way and they have no recourse for fear of pulling a licease.

A free gift with string attached is not a free gift. The patents are not worth the lawsuit and fees. This has negative preditory value.

It is fake source.

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Re:EA has made five of its accessibility patents free for an... by andrewzah on Tuesday August 24, 2021 @06:45PM (#28295905)
It is free, but with conditions. I dislike EA doing this as a publicity stunt while they’re essentially keeping people at their mercy if they use these patents. I guess I would prefer it if they said “conditionally free”.
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Re:EA has made five of its accessibility patents free for an... by laumars on Tuesday August 24, 2021 @07:05PM (#28296091)
It’s a pretty standard clause. Why would EA give up their IP for free. Don’t get me wrong, I get it’s cool to hate EA and I’m definitely down with hating them as much as the next gamer. But this isn’t an example of them being evil.
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Re:EA has made five of its accessibility patents free for an... by matheusmoreira on Tuesday August 24, 2021 @07:22PM (#28296235)
> Why would EA give up their IP for free.

Why is it even possible for them to patent stuff like this? There should be no IP to own in the first place.

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Re:EA has made five of its accessibility patents free for an... by laumars on Wednesday August 25, 2021 @04:18AM (#28299157)
I also hate patent laws as much as the next person, but what you’re now complaining about is a much bigger issue and one that’s not going to change any time soon.

This kind of defensive use of patents I’m actually ok with. Indie firms who can’t afford expensive patent disputes benefits and in the mean time it protects EA against larger firms.

The bigger issue here isn’t the clause, it’s peoples dislike of EA. Sure EA have earned that distrust but this isn’t one of their shitty moves.

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Re:EA has made five of its accessibility patents free for an... by teawrecks on Tuesday August 24, 2021 @07:38PM (#28296385)
Again, not free.
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Re:EA has made five of its accessibility patents free for an... by laumars on Wednesday August 25, 2021 @04:13AM (#28299142)
That’s was my point. Why should they give it up for free? EA aren’t a charity.

Plus as I’ve said before, this kind of clause is really quite common. Even FOSS has done it on occasions

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Re:EA has made five of its accessibility patents free for an... by labster on Tuesday August 24, 2021 @08:05PM (#28296574)
No money is paid. It’s definitely free.
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