EFF Launches Anti-Trolling Site

Aug 12, 2013

New Trolling Effects website will keep watch on patent trolls.

A group of organizations led by the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF) recently launched the Trolling Effects website , which will act as a resource center for potential targets of patent trolls. According to the EFF, the site aims "...to unite and empower would-be victims of patent trolls through a crowd-sourced database of demand letters and to serve as a clearinghouse of information on the troll epidemic."

Readers are invited to post letters they receive from patent trolls. The site also distributes information for users who find themselves in the crosshairs of a patent attack. According to EFF activist Adi Kamdar, "Patent trolls will no longer be able to hide under a cloak of legal darkness. Trolling Effects will shine a light on companies that abuse the patent system to shake down innovators."

According to the EFF, because most patent threats never result in actual lawsuits, letters and other correspondence outlining the claims in the attack rarely end up in court proceedings or show up in the public record. EFF will post these demand letters in a public setting, where experts and other victims can share information on the attack. The Trolling Effects site also includes blogs, FAQs, and other information for readers who are the targets of patent intimidation.

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