I’m kind of at a loss as to what to say about this. It sort of defies description on so many levels, so I’ll just let the article speak for itself.
This comes from the company whose primary claim to fame is it won a lawsuit against Microsoft (which was later mostly reversed) for violating their patent (obtained despite years of existing prior art) on the concept of plug-ins for browsers. The implications of the suit had it prevailed could have been devistating to the web as this article discussed.
Eolas Technologies Incorporated, a Chicago-area Internet technology research firm, today announced the release of Muze v. 1.0 Hurricane Relief Edition, an innovative multimedia software application that represents a new genre in entertainment software. Eolas will donate 60% of the revenues it receives from sales of Muze to one or more charities for the relief of victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Eolas asks everyone to join them in supporting efforts to relieve the pain and suffering of the victims of this terrible disaster.
And for this generousity, they only want 40% and a lawsuit against anyone using a browser impinging on their patent when visiting their website.
Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like their “Hurricane Relief Edition” is moreso an attention getter for their company to promote themselves than to help out.
Of course, that’s the first thought that came to my mind when I read this.
Absolute crap.
How can a software company possibly expect people to believe it could even be a remote thought that this PR bull is a good idea?
Note to Eolas: When pushing a charity drive, don’t profit off of it. Don’t try and tell us that this software cost you money to develop, you have to recoup the cost, and “you have to make money somehow”. if you’re trying to contribute to a greater good, stop thinking of yourself.
I’d like to thank you for posting this to make people aware, and also to echo your comment: “I’m kind of at a loss as to what to say about this. It sort of defies description on so many levels…”
I wish I could put what’s in my head right now into words. This does, as you said, defy description.
The nerve of some people…