Skype Lawsuit

I meant to write about this article in the NY Times last week, but it kind of fell through the cracks.  It sounds as if the creators of Skype , the leading web-based phone service, are none too happy with how eBay, the previous licensee (and effective owner of the Skype brand), was altering their code, and thus have filed a suit against them for violation of their license agreement.  Well, technically the lawsuit is between Skype and JoltID, but JoltID is merely the holding company for the technology originally designed for use in Skype.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.  The source of the disagreement is certainly not novel – inventors generally like to retain a fair bit of control over their products even if they ostensibly cut ties with it.  But with the rapid proliferation of VoIP technologies being peddled by both web-based and service providers such as phone and cable companies, it is somewhat strange that either side would really be fighting over the technology.  Sure, the Skype name still carries some cache, but it only generated about $170 million in revenue for the last quarter [PDF], and doesn’t look to be a cash cow anytime soon.  Furthermore, a quick search of Google patents did not unearth any patented technology by the original Skype inventors, so this doesn’t seem to be an issue of potential market interference/restriction.  So I am interested to see how this case plays out; if it truly concerns a licensing violation, or if it is merely a power play by inventors looking to capture lightning in the bottle a second time with the same technology.

Brief College Football Analysis

As an alumni of both the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, I oftentimes find my whole Saturday dominated by that seasonal spectacle known as college football. Most weekends, UM and/or MSU play some (relatively) inconsequential opponent (looking at you, Indiana or Montana State), and my attention can wander to any number of things (Internet, my wife, walking my dog, eating, etc.). Yet, every once and a while you have a weekend list this past one, when you are reminded just how exciting college football can be, and how sometimes you may take it a bit too seriously for your own help.

Poor Sparty

In the early game, Michigan State was stunned by Central Michigan at home, 29-27.  Now, that alone is not an immense shocker – CMU is expected to compete for the MAC crown, and their starting quarterback Dan LeFevour set the career yardage record for the conference in the game against MSU.  At the same time, though, MSU was ahead for almost the entire game , only to give up a late touchdown pass with 30 seconds less.  Then, somewhat inexplicably, CMU went for a 2-point conversion and the win, leading to a pass out of bounds and, seemingly, the end of the game.  Sure, CMU could try to recover an onside kick, but those rarely work, especially when the other team clearly knew it was coming.  So CMU lined up the kick, MSU trotted out the hands team, and everything seemed academic at that point – CMU would kick some dribbler toward the sideline, there would be a crush of players converging on the ball, and MSU would either recover it or the ball would skip harmlessly out of bounds.

So what happened?  The CMU kicker put some wicked spin on the ball, it took the perfect hop, and CMU recovered.  Of course, they still had 25 or so yards to go to get into viable field goal range, and only about 20+ seconds to do it.  Somehow, LeFevour and CMU was able to move the ball down the field to set up a 47-yard field goal attempt for the win, but the kicker missed it to the right.  So game over? Nope – an MSU player had jumped offsides, resulting in the double whammy of giving CMU another kick AND moving them 5 yards closer. At this point, it should be pretty obvious what happened (I wouldn’t have wasted this much time writing about a 1-point MSU win). The kick was thisclose to missing but slipped through the uprights, and CMU recorded a season-defining win while MSU’s inflated preseason hype looks even more ridiculous than it originally did.

Unfortunately, these types of losses seem to be the norm for State.  I have been an unabashed UM fan since I was a little kid, but as an alumni I still want MSU to win and be competitive.  But outside of the Pearles era and the few years Nick Saban stuck around, MSU has been a struggling program most of my life.  During Bobby Williams’ tenure, the team featured top-notch talent (including record-setting WR Charles Rogers and RB T.J. Duckett) but consistently underperformed.  Then under John L. Smith’s rein (which largely coincided with my time at MSU law school), the team self-destructed so consistently that I rarely checked game scores after the second week in October, presuming that the team would find a way to blow any game there were in.

But Mark Dantonio was supposed to be different.  Not only did he lead MSU to two straight bowl games, but he was the type of coach he instilled discipline and accountability in his teams, traits that have seemingly always been missing with the Spartans.  They have always had decent enough talent – not necessarily dominant recruiting classes, but in that mid-range level trending upward.  A good coach can certainly win with that talent, and consistent winners recruit better, creating a positive feedback loop that can create nationally-ranked programs out of schools like Utah and Boise St.

But watching this game, I saw the same demons that have plagued MSU in the past rear their ugly heads again.  They had more penalties than CMU (given, only by 2, but as mentioned above, one was at a pretty inopportune time), and were outgained by over 100 yards by a team that only recorded 182 total yards the week before against a pretty mediocre Arizona.  The offense was immensely predictable in the second half, and while the defense at times looked good at times, they also let CMU march down the field at times virtually unencumbered by things like QB pressure and receiver coverage.  It was a disappointing loss for the team, but on a greater level it exposed the team for perhaps what it is – a second-tier team in the Big 10, one relegated to the random New Years Day bowl games in Florida or Texas sandwiched between some 5-7 seasons.  I’m sure Spartan fans wish that wasn’t the case, but the team’s play certainly is trending toward that being a reality moreso than ascension into the upper-echelon of the conference and the national rankings.

Go Blue

In the afternoon game between UM and Notre Dame, you had two teams seeking redemption.  UM, coming off a horrendous 3-9 season the year before (the worst in school history), was also stinging from an inflammatory and dubious story about practice tactics by the Free Press.  While a season-opening win against Western Michigan had helped to soothe the pain a bit, everyone knew that the Notre Dame game would be the true barometer for this team.

Notre Dame, of course, had its own demons it was trying to extricate.  Just two years ago it too had suffered through a 3-9 season, and last year struggled to a 7-6 record while the media and fans were calling for head coach Charlie Weiss’s head.  Yet, this year was supposed to be different – uber-QB Jimmy Clausen was playing behind a solid offensive line, and the team had two top-notch WRs in Golden Tate and Michael Floyd.  The defense was improved, and at least one (potentially biased) pundit was calling Notre Dame a dark horse National Championship contender.  So spirits were high in South Bend as the Irish traveled to Ann Arbor.  Plus, when you have two of the top-3 winningest programs in college football history, there’s a chance for something special.

So what happened?  Well, one of the most exciting and nerve-wracking games I’ve ever witnessed.  Michigan’s true freshman QB Tate Forcier played well beyond his years, accounting for 3 touchdowns (2 passing, 1 rushing), including the game-winning pass to Greg Mathews with 11 seconds left in the game after Notre Dame erased a double-digit lead for the Wolverines heading into the 4th quarter.  Clausen played quite well himself, throwing for 3 TDs and generally looking like one of the best QBs in the country.  That said, he still looked rattled whenever UM was able to get pressure on him, but to ND’s credit they were able to give Clausen enough time on most of his passes.  Both defenses played well at times but were clearly no match for the offenses, and both running games were surprisingly efficient (especially Notre Dame’s) given the fact ND’s usual focus on passing and the fact UM’s top back Brandon Minor was still recovering from an injury that sidelined him for the past few weeks.

Without waxing poetic or wading too deep into the sea of hyperbole, I think this UM team may go down as one of the most exciting and “fun” to watch in recent memory.  That doesn’t mean I think they’ll be one of the best – I figured 7-6 or 8-5 with a bowl win at the beginning of the season – but Coach Rich Rodriguez’s offense looks to finally be clicking with Forcier and fellow freshman QB Denard Robinson at the helm, and the team is young enough that they should consistently improve as the season progresses.  Plus, the Big 10 looks to be down a bit this year, with Ohio State and Penn State the clear favorites followed by a bunch of mediocre teams.  It is not inconceivable that UM would emerge with the third-best record in the conference at season’s end, a dramatic turn-around and a clear springboard to a return to national relevance in 2010 and beyond.

But that’s getting a bit ahead of myself.  Last weekend’s game was one for the ages, and one that I hope fans won’t soon forget.  For all the bashing of this team and its head coach since he stepped on campus, this team is clearly make strides toward being the type of team that consistently challenges for national championships and Big 10 titles, and that is the standard UM fans have come to expect (even if the reality has been that outside of the 1997 season, the team has been a good-but-not-great program for decades).  I’ve always had faith that Coach Rodriguez was a good hire for this program after Lloyd Carr; I’m just happy to start seeing the benefits of that faith on the field and off.

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