The trolls can be recognized by their actions: broad assertion of dubious patents against large numbers of defendants.
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Bloggers are as motivated by seeing those numbers soar as are the knights of Camelot and the trolls of Reddit.
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Several things, however, are clear: the trolls and spam were largely nuked in the time it took to throw the switch.
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The finest moments of these effects come in three particular sequences: the trolls, the goblins, and the inevitable appearance of Gollum.
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Once in a while the trolls would even win big jury victories.
Rivendell, Gollum, the trolls, and the Great Goblin all make an appearance.
From the trolls of hashtags to the conspiracy theorists to the heart-breaking goodbyes to the politics to the loop of information turning over and over until another piece of information broke the cycle and started its own.
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This makes sense, since the trolls were forced to file separate suits, rather than a single, combined lawsuit. 2012 statistics show that trolls brought the majority of patent lawsuits filed in the U.S., 61% compared to only 45% in 2011.
Some of the techniques trolls have used to gain the upper hand can be used to take it from them.
Sure, most of the patent trolls can be paid to go away for minimal sums.
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C. by lobbying for patent reform, seemed helpless as the patent trolls morphed into powerful hedge funds.
By applying some of these tactics, just in reverse, companies may be able to better manage the threats trolls pose.
In my experience with youtube, the copyright trolls are absolutely everywhere.
Using e-mail invitations and Web banner ads, the company trolls for members and offers them a chance to register to win a free product, like a DVD player.
In a recent blog post, Google explains that -- along with its collaborators -- it has submitted comments to the aforementioned agencies, detailing the impact that "patent trolls" have on the economy.
This version by British playwright David Edgar, from a literal translation by Desiree Kongered McDougall, has modernized and changed Ibsen's language, removing many references to the inner "demons and trolls" that plague the architect.
Big companies continue to feel the threat of patent trolls, yet Myhrvold is fine with the status quo.
The greatest advantage trolls have is their ability to focus exclusively on assertion.
It trolls the Web for content that looks like an event and plucks data about goings-on from Ticketmaster, Opentable and other databases.
In tech, the abuse of patents and the abundance of patent trolls has created a hostile environment for start-ups and innovators.
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The threat posed by trolls forces tech companies to retain large legal teams and expend resources that could otherwise go to hiring more innovative designers and engineers.
Wired reports that the US government has launched a new initiative to deliberately frustrate frequenters of known extremist internet forums in the way that only trolls know how.
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Cohen, who represented the company targeted on MoneySavingExpert, says more people are realizing that while online trolls can argue for the human right to privacy and (in Britain) call on the Data Protection Act to protect their identities, plaintiffs can call on the High Court to unmask them.
Jonathan Schwartz, who goes by the name Bluewater Jon, trolls for big game--tuna and marlin--from his kayak.
It merely added a minor tactical impediment to trolls by limiting the number of defendants that could be joined and it added a special temporary process for reviewing business method patents.
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For years big technology companies that employed thousands of people, made and sold real products, and once in a while even exported actual American-made goods, had to accept being the fat targets of patent trolls.
The SHIELD Act introduced yesterday in the House by Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore. and Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R- Utah, would help protect innovators from trolls by making the plaintiff pay the legal costs when their baseless lawsuits are ultimately rejected in court.
In addition to patent trolls and privateers, the sheer volume of patents is another overwhelming issue.
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The passage of the AIA drove down the number of defendants named in patent suits, but also drove up the number of suits filed by trolls.
However, after the enactment of the AIA, the number of patent cases filed by trolls against smaller companies increased significantly.
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