Hi all,
After the success of Monmouthpedia etc, we decided to try something similar in South Africa - in collaboration with the Heritage department of the City of Johannesburg. After the President of Wikimedia South Africa did a radio interview about the proposed project, our contact in the City got this letter:
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Dear Eric,
Kindly note that this email is sent without prejudice.
It would be greatly appreciated if you would consider the Walk and Talk Tours patented system in 1999 with regards to information signage relating back to electronic media to obtain information in respect of a site.
To take this step further I would suggest that Johannesburg Development Agency/ Johannesburg Arts and Culture/ Wikapedia etc consider buying this concept from Walk and Talk Tours CC without the necessity of going through unnecessary legal fees in using the patented concept without the consent of Walk and Talk Tours CC.
Kind regards
Beryl Porter www.walktours.co.za Tel: +27 11 444 1639 Fax: +27 11 444 6128 Cell: +27 83 269 9769 email: bporter@iafrica.com
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I did some research, and found the relevant patent here: http://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/WO2004021309
A brief review of the patent seems to indicate that it doesn't cover anything except for phone calls, but the wording is sufficiently broad that one could construe it to refer to any data sent over a wireless network. Can someone on this list please give an opinion?
Thanks,
-- David Richfield [[:en:User:Slashme]] +27718539985