In the wake of DirecTV's agreement with the EFF which I reported on yesterday, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the company
can't sue people for "mere possession" of technology that might be used to freely access satellite broadcast signals. A cynic might suggest they saw it coming... but I wouldn't want to be seen as a cynic.

Findlaw has a link to the decision http://caselaw.findlaw.com/data2/circs/11th/0315313p.pdf

Acacia which has been quietly building a track record of success, suing pornographers and minor educational institutions for patent infringement, has decided the time is right to pick a fight with some of the big broadcasters. Acacia holds a patent on audio and visual transmission via the Net. The notion that anybody should get awarded such a patent is daft but it now gets to get tested by the big guys' lawyers.