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Technology Stocks : Gemstar Intl (GMST) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RocketMan who wrote (2311)	3/14/2000 11:29:00 PM
From: quidditch	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6516

Good question, RocketMan: I don't know the answers (NY Stew will set us straight), but here are some starting points: 1. The text is copyrighted, but that's only the starting point of IPR for authors-- 2. Copyright protects the work against infringement/unauthorized use of a private work as well as a published work. As in books in paper format, the e-book is a form of publication, and as in a Simon & Schuster, Random House etc., there must be an agreement between the author and the publisher and the medium--I believe that e-books will share in the royalties/revenue stream due the publishers, but it will be more complicated than the current paper publisher/author arrangement. Just as publishers with wider distribution capability command better deals and can offer better deals, my guess is that as e-books, and particularly Rocket and Novo gain market share, they may become preferred vehicles in this e-publishing space. 3. I agree with you that the reader itself is probably hard to patent; still, there might be patentable or protected aspects of the user interface and how that is coupled with some of the features mentioned in the Thompson release. This will be a function of marketing as well as true appeal to consumer perception of convenience and functionality. 4. As in the IPG and EPG, perhaps there are tricks as to the formatting of electronic books for the reader--I'm merely guessing here. I'm sure there is more I'm not smart enough to figure out. FWIW, Steve

To: RocketMan who wrote (2311)	3/15/2000 7:06:00 AM
From: weatherrock23	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6516

Rocketman, I think GMST's core business is the software enabling the transfer of information. I don't think they want to be in the hardware business (reader devices). Mass market consumer electronic device manufacturing is not a 'core discipline' for GMST. Currently they need to be to in hardware to build market mass for their software. This is comparable to G 'giving away razors to sell the blades' business. I see GMST encouraging all the electronic device manufacturers to get into the reader device business. The Thomson relationship is probably the first of many device producer relationships. Once market mass reaches an acceptable level GMST will back away from hardware. Randy