Hill Rats and Congresscritters have become completely addicted to their Crackberries: the Research In Motion Blackberry wireless email devices (I tossed mine into the trash last year — they’re crap, especially as compared to the SideKick).
The problem is that RIM, a Canadian company, has been convicted of infringing on a bullshit patent held by an American competitor. Ironically, RIM’s own bullshit patent (“small QWERTY keyboards”) has been used to extort money from Palm and Handspring.
The chief administrator of the House of Representatives has asked RIM and its Yankee competitor to settle up nice and quiet, lest they deprive the gubmint’s net-addled stress-feeders of their always-on email appliances.
Eagen wrote that Congress has invested nearly $6 million in BlackBerry technology, including issuing 3,000 of the black, wireless handsets, in part because of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Eagen’s worry stems from a federal court jury verdict in November that the BlackBerry infringed on patents held by NTP Inc., an Arlington holding company…
“This is a sorry state of affairs,” Wallace said. “The U.S. Congress is defending the continued use of foreign technology that is determined to be operating unlawfully.” He has told Congress that he would not seek to shut BlackBerry down until a suitable alternative was in place.
(Thanks, John!)