Has anyone else heard this? This sounds like Myspace actually might be in jeopardy, or am I reading this wrong? Here is a link to the article: http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=17498&hed=Friendster+Wins+Patent Might have to work on a friendster resource site and start over.
Interesting article. I really dont know how to read that though and dont have any idea how someone could own "a patent that covers online social networks". Curious to see what happens from that.
I doubt it means anything in the end... it's just their way of trying to make up for what they lost. They might make some bigger companies nervous and shake up some smaller companies - but in the end: it doesn't really matter.
The most important thing is that the patent doesn't really affect the biggest social network of them all: myspace.com
I like that the article appears on a site called "Red Herring". Let's hope that's what this patent turns out to be. Most interactive community sites revolve around social networking in some way or another. Being able to add someone as your buddy is a feature of this and many other forums, and it's been around for years. Calculating who your friend's friends are is only one small step ahead: usually if you have sites with friend lists, you can see who their friends are anyway. The concept has been around for ages, but the way Friendster has presented it may be new. I don't know whether that in itself deserves a patent.