Kim Dotcom Claims He Invented Two-Factor Authentication, Has A Patent To Prove It

[Esivo]

This is interesting!

 

 

 

Oh, Kim Dotcom. You just never stop surprising us.

 

Just hours after Twitter finally rolled out its long-awaited Two-Factor authentication feature to protect accounts, the Megaupload founder is claiming to have invented the entire mechanism… and he’s got a patent to prove it.

 

“But they won’t even verify my Twitter account?!”, he says.

 

The patent in question can be viewed here. Filed for in 1998 and published two years later, it lists a Kim Schmitz — Dotcom’s name before he changed it in 2005 — as the sole assignee.

 

For the unfamiliar, two-factor authentication is a mechanism intended to make it more difficult for hackers to access accounts that aren’t their own. When a user attempts to log in to a service from an unrecognized computer, the service sends a one-time password to an alternative device (like, say, a cell phone) known to belong to that user. At least theoretically, hacking a user’s account would thus require access to that device in addition to their password.

Google, Facebook, Twitter, and countless other monstrous sites all use two-factor authentication to protect user accounts, and Kim Dotcom’s tweets suggest that he hasn’t seen a cent from any of ‘em for the alleged “massive IP infringement.”

 

https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/337331891940229120

 

So, will he sue?

 

It seems he has at least considered it:

 

https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/337334129370734592

 

But he quickly switched to a different approach; instead of getting into a legal battle with a bunch of giants, Dotcom would prefer that Google, et al. continue to use “[his] patent for free,” in exchange for financial assistance in his ongoing legal battle:

 

https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/337339102603116544

https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/337340430662381568

 

Given the rather broken state of software patents, it’s not impossible to imagine that there’s at least one other person or company out there that can claim to have invented it, with patent in hand. This patent held by Dynapass Inc., for example, was approved in 2006 for “Use of personal communication devices for user authentication.” We’re searching for other instances of similar patents.

 

As strange as it may seem for those who only know him as the founder of a file uploading site that was raided by the FBI last year, it would actually make quite a bit of sense for Dotcom to have security-related patents. His first brush with notoriety came in 1994, when he was arrested in Germany at the tender age of 20 for hacking calling cards. Those who spend their lives looking for security holes are often the same who come up with the solutions.

 

Source:

http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/22/kim-dotcom-claims-he-invented-two-factor-authentication-has-a-patent-to-prove-it/

 

 

*BTW if someone can tell me how to post those twitter messages (except for post them as an image) leave a comment telling me how :p

[kemical]

the longer he takes to sue the least his chances of getting any cent

[fade]

I think he has bigger fish to fry right now unfortunately.

[ajoy39]

oh so NOW he cares about intellectual property

[Wynter]

*BTW if someone can tell me how to post those twitter messages (except for post them as an image) leave a comment telling me how :P

Mark the text from @username till the end of the tweet, copy, paste. It's just text. Some Twitter clients offer that option upon right click. The web based version is very basic though.

 

So is he done begging his former government for help now? That dude's hilarious. He should do standup. Sorry, I can't take him seriously.

 

 

oh so NOW he cares about intellectual property

 

Almost peed myself. LMAO

[Esivo]

Inb4 twitter, facebook, google shut down 

[jrfox87]

oh so NOW he cares about intellectual property

 

lol what a joke this guy is

[Esivo]

He didn't care because he had A LOT LOT LOT LOT LOT of money. Now that his assets are frozen he is gonna sue everybody so he can pay his expenses and get everything he lost back and unfreeze his assets.. Anyone of us would do it, stop hiding behind your fingers guys.

[Kamil]

He didn't care because he had A LOT LOT LOT LOT LOT of money. Now that his assets are frozen he is gonna sue everybody so he can pay his expenses and get everything he lost back and unfreeze his assets.. Anyone of us would do it, stop hiding behind your fingers guys.

I dunno, if I had a patent that people were infringing I would start suing immediately... or at least get in contact with the relevant individuals/companies and see if we could work something out.

[ajoy39]

He didn't care because he had A LOT LOT LOT LOT LOT of money. Now that his assets are frozen he is gonna sue everybody so he can pay his expenses and get everything he lost back and unfreeze his assets.. Anyone of us would do it, stop hiding behind your fingers guys.

Yeah because no person or company that has dump trucks full of money sues other companies for patent infringement, thats why apple hasn't sued samsung for equally frivolous and vague patents.

 

And no actually, if i made my living off of supporting intellectual property infringement I don't think i would be stupid enough to expect other people to care about my intellectual property.