boxcar_jim wrote: However, I put forward the argument that it is a worrying development. Legal action will surely slow down progress and is very much against the open architecture of DCC. This is why I was so critical of MTHs approach on entry to the HO market. I'm pretty convienced that it was the MTH lawsuits which helped slow the production of Soundtraxx's Tsunami to a slow painful 2-year crawl - my opinion of course.
However, I put forward the argument that it is a worrying development. Legal action will surely slow down progress and is very much against the open architecture of DCC. This is why I was so critical of MTHs approach on entry to the HO market. I'm pretty convienced that it was the MTH lawsuits which helped slow the production of Soundtraxx's Tsunami to a slow painful 2-year crawl - my opinion of course.
Wow, more conspiracy theories... The majority of the slowdowns concerning the Tsunami were product suppliers discountinuing several needed components which had to be redesigned, and the software and setup relevant to the analog control of the decoder. I have confronted the folks at Soundtraxx on several occasions about this and the answer from them has always been the same: While the MTH patents needed to be reviewed to ensure there were no issues, they presented no significant delays to the product's release.
If anything, you should be blaming the guys using transformers for the slow release, not MTH!
Jeff
boxcar_jim wrote:Yes - it will be interesting won't it? I guess MTHs suit struck at the very heart of DCC but this is a bit more peripheral.
MTH's suit with who struck at the very heart of DCC? These comments are absurd. The MTH/QSI suit was started by QSI, and it was concerning a completely different technology. It had absolutely nothing to do with DCC in any way shape or form. On a side note, this is what I hope people will start to figure out...
QSI isn't the happy, loveable, go lucky company all the HO modelers think it is. They are just as ruthless if not more so than MTH ever has been or will be for that matter. They cost MTH hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost profits due to a stoppage of product supply and non-reimbursed warranty issues concerning the PS1 system MTH bought from them. I still love reading posts from people who think MTH was in the wrong in the defense of the PS2 product and IMHO, these people either don't know the facts, don't understand the companies playing the game, or both.
Honestly I saw this lawsuit coming a mile away, and my guess is that it's just the first of many. If not with ESU, with someone else. They already tried to squeeze money from MTH, so let's just wait and see who else they go after...
So after this who still thinks MTH is the bad guy?
It's not good news but then it doesn't necessarily mean we have to worry much for now. These suits get dragged out over time in court systems so it's likely that we'll still be able to purchase ESU and QSI products as normal.
Hopefully like the MTH vs. QSI suit....it may fizzle out or a settlement will be reached. Unlike the MTH suit, it seems that this one isn't getting as much "heat" or publicity. Hopefully things will work out.
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JPM335 wrote: Im also curious to see if people's opinion of QSI starts to go down as happened with MTH.
Im also curious to see if people's opinion of QSI starts to go down as happened with MTH.
Yes - it will be interesting won't it? I guess MTHs suit struck at the very heart of DCC but this is a bit more peripheral.
Yeah I saw that, it cant be a good thing for us modelers thats for sure. QSI decoders are very nice and ESU decoders are GREAT! I was planning on buying a few more ESU decoders, maybe I should stock up now in case something unforeseen happens. I dont remember MR being very specific about what the suit was over. Does anyone know what patents QSI is suing over.
I don't know whether its been noticed, but in the Sept MRR there is a small piece about QSI suing ESU over technical infrigements of their patents for sound decoders.
Now I'm not going to comment as to who is right or wrong in the case because I don't know or fully understand how these sound decoders work. I wonder however if it has its base in BLI/PCM (one of QSIs first big HO scale customers) swapping suppliers of sound chips?