Updates on suspected Patent Troll, Vuestar

(I can’t hyperlink the image above to their website as it will infringe their patent)

I wrote an entry about Vuestar Technologies Pte Ltd previously. For the uninitiated, Vuestar is a suspected Patent Troll which is sending out ‘invoices’ to small Singapoore website operators asking for thousands of dollars in licensing fees for the use of their ‘patented technology’ – ‘locating Web pages by utilising visual images’. In layman’s terms, hyperlinking of images to a URL on the World Wide Web (Yes, I know this sounds extremely ridiculous cos of it’s all-encompassing reach).

For those who are curious to know who are the jokers behind this, here’s a picture of Vuestar’s office in Singapore (via the kind folks at EDMW):

Here’s a picture of the patent owner, Mr. Ronald Neville Langford of Battery Hill, Queensland, Australia (via Aogami International):

Obviously, the online community, both in Singapore and on the international platform are not too pleased with Vuestar and Mr Langford. They have earned themselves an entry in Wikipedia for posterity btw.

There’s even a website set up to sue Vuestar – SueVuestar.biz (what else?).

After the inital reports on Vuestar in news and blog sites, more followed:

TechCrunch – Today in Patent Trolling: VueStar

Techspot – Image linking requires licensing, says Vuestar

e pur si muove – User Friendly on VueStar

Almost Infamous – Vuestar – Patent Troll?

harishpillay – Vuestar and all their smarts

Techdirt – Singapore Firm Claims Patent On Hyperlinked Images

Tech.Blorge – Vuestar tries to own the Internet via IP lawsuits

ars technica – Patent troll sending out invoices for image hyperlinks

Inquirer – Singapore firm claims to own all graphics links on the web

Geekzone – Welcome to Vuestar

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