At our Software Freedom Day event, there was some discussion of the relative merits of two educational software packages: Blackboard, a proprietary software package, and Moodle, it's free software equivalent. I have to admit I've used neither, but among those who have used both, the consensus seems to be that Moodle has the edge in versatility, due of course to the freedoms granted to users in the licensing terms.
It seems now that the company behind Blackboard have decided that they're not prepared to compete in a race they can't win, so they've decided to attempt to get all their competitors disqualified. The US patent office has awarded them a patent "for technology used for internet-based education support systems and methods."
Website Academic Commons reports that not only does this incredibly broad patent endanger products that directly compete with Blackboard, but educators "also need to worry about using a blog or wiki with a class of students. In fact, simple networking protocols, authentication practices, and the like, if undertaken by a school could well be jeapordized by this patent."
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Blackboard Update