Good v. Evil

OK - but the title got your attention!

I posted this elsewhere tonight but thought I'd copy it here as should be of interest to anyone who thinks theInternet has any relevance to learning...

................

Hardly surpising that this skipped under our radar given the content of news programmes these last few days. Anyway, you could be forgiven for checking the calendar when hearing this - but no - it is not April 1st., the US Patents Office have actually granted a 'Broad Patent' to Blackboard Inc the supplierof the eponymous learning management sysytem.
Blackboard have applied and been granted a patent for:

"A system and methods for implementing education online by providing
institutions with the means for allowing the creation of courses to be taken by
students online, the courses including assignments, announcements, course
materials, chat and whiteboard facilities, and the like, all of which are
available to the students over a network such as the Internet."

As a slow fury erupts amongst educational bloggers - read Stephen Downes for a comprehensive listing as of 3rd August - my favourite reaction so far is this post from Jay Cross which ends with:

"By the way, I'm filing a patent on learning. It's a process by which the brain
of a human being connects neural pathways in response to outside stimuli. The
patent includes, ipso facto, hearing, sight, smell, taste, talking and feeling.
If you don't cease learning immediately, you will hear from my attorney..."

Could get interesting...