Geoff Goodfellow
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Geoff Goodfellow is an arpanet wireless email visionary. He came up with the idea in 1982 and published it in an article titled "Electronic Mail for People on the Move" in Telecom Digest, a widely read arpanet mailing list. In the early 1990s Mr. Goodfellow attempted to commercialize his concept in a product called RadioMail. In 1992, Radiomail entered into a partnership with Research in Motion, RAM Mobile Data, and Ericsson. Goodfellow left the company in 1996. Research in Motion went on to develop the BlackBerry wireless computing device, based partly on Goodfellow's ideas.
Goodfellow, a contributor to the Jargon File and participant in the early days of the Silicon Valley computer culture, did not believe in patenting his idea. He told The New York Times, "You don't patent the obvious...The way you compete is to build something that is faster, better, cheaper. You don't lock your ideas up in a patent and rest on your laurels." Later, however, Thomas Campana Jr. obtained several patents covering the implementation details of wireless e-mail that his holding company, NTP Inc., would use to sue Research in Motion. A jury found in 2002 that RIM had violated NTP's patents. However, NTP's attorneys, who had met with Goodfellow while preparing their case, did not disclose his contribution to wireless e-mail in court. Although the patents have been technically invaldiated by the U.S. Patent Office, RIM chose to settle out of court to avoid facing a possible injunction against their service.
In 2006 Goodfellow is serving as the chairman of an Eritrean internet start-up company working on Voice over IP technology and electronica music director at KZSU where he hosts a weekly radio [beat.net].
References
- (also the [International Herald Tribune])
External links
- Discussion of the arpanet post on the blog [Good Morning Silicon Valley]
- Discussion of the arpanet issue on the blog [Techdirt]
- Wallstreet Journal Law Blog [link] "Goodfellow couldn’t come up with much documentation on his initial invention"
Further reading
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