Free Culture @ NYU

Blackboard Patent Rumblings

Wednesday, 12.06.2006  –  Category: General, News

A friend of mine recently had a chance to hear Matt Pittinsky, the chairman of Blackboard give a presentation at Teachers College at Columbia University on new software system he is working on. Matt took a little heat for his company’s policies, which have caused “great consternation” in the educational world, as this open letter that educause wrote to Blackboard indicates.

From EdLab Seminar Podcast: Matthew Pittinsky(37:35)

Q: Yeah Matt, that was really great, thanks very much. Alot of ideas about this, and it actually touches on alot of the brainstorming stuff that we were working on yesterday, but before anybody comments I wonder if you could give us some assurance that the ideas that we bring up here are going to end up in the open educational community as opposed to patented by your company?

Matt: Yes, I had nothing to do with the decision to enforce that patent, although my name is mentioned on the patent so its kinda cool to be on a patent. But yes this is all to do with my Columbia and academic work. (Q: OK) And, in general I am not a huge fan of the patent action for blackboard anyway.

Q: But, you see how it is problematic for us to be actually engaging, and consulting, and giving ideas to this project, and to then have them be locked up and kept from the larger academic community?

Matt: I understand the point you are making, in this case, this is an EdLab project so I would have hoped that was presumed.

Q: OK – Elephant in the room…

This particular talk may have been about a (currently) non-patented project, but it makes you wonder, how did Blackboard develop their patented ideas in the first place?