Web design firm patents most Internet rich media

A CALIFORNIAN small web-design outfit has managed to get the patent for most of the media technology which power the world wide wibbly web.

Balthaser Online says getting the patent means that it can license nearly any rich-media Internet application across a broad range of devices and networks.

It means that anyone who wants to use Flash, Flex, Java, Ajax, and XAML could face a licensing fee from Balthaser when their site goes up.

The patent, No. 7,000,180, has the catchy title Methods, Systems, And Processes For The Design And Creation Of Rich-Media Applications Via The Internet. It contains 83 claims that It covers a "host computer, containing processes for creating rich-media applications, is accessed from a remote user computer system via an Internet connection.

User account information and rich-media component specifications are uploaded over the Internet for a specific user account. Rich-media applications are created, deleted, or modified in a user account, with rich-media components added to, modified in, or deleted from the rich-media application based on information contained in a user request.

After creation, the rich-media application is viewed or saved on the host computer system, or downloaded to the user computer system over the Internet." According to Information Week, here, the owner of the company Neil Balthaser, a former VP of strategy for Macromedia says he will most likely sell the patent rather than enforce it himself. That way he will be able to buy himself a nice island somewhere.

Rotibi identified Microsoft, Adobe, Google, Yahoo as having made significant investments in rich Internet and interactive technology and might be interested in buying it. µ