Apple's other patent infringement lawsuit, this one over iTunes DRM

Can you believe that Apple's facing a second patent lawsuit? We just mentioned how a company called
Advanced Audio Devices is suing them for infringing on their patent for a "music jukebox", now apparently some outfit in Hong Kong called Pat-rights is claiming that it holds a patent for "Internet/Remote User Identity Verification" that Apple is violating with the digital rights management software used on both iTunes and the iPod. Pat-rights says that Apple has pretty much been ignoring them ever since they contacted them back in 2003 about this, and that they're getting ready to file suit on March 21st if their demands aren't met. And what exactly do they want? No less than 12 percent of all the money Apple has made off of iTunes and the iPod (good luck squeezing that out of Stevie J.). So does Pat-right's case have any merit? We'll leave that to the federal courts to decide (we've heard they're good at that sort of thing), but Mike Masnick over at TechDirt nailed this one: basically Apple is getting sued because the tools they've been using to protect other people's intellectual property (namely that of the record industry) supposedly violate some other person's intellectual property. The DRM
ain't worth it, bros. At least we hope it's not worth it.

[Via TechDirt]