Acacia patents on streaming digital media

Acacia Research, a little-known holding company, has assembled a group of 17 software patents that collectively cover most aspects of streaming media and video on demand. This raises the specter that, as with Eola's browser plug-in patent, which produced a $521 million judgment against Microsoft, new assertions of private property rights will force vast numbers of websites either to pay licensing fees or change their content. See a CNET article by Paul Festa for details.