Background:<p>0) Kik is like cross-platform BBM for Blackberry, Android, and iOS users.<p>1) RIM had previously removed Kik from the Blackberry “App World” store.<p>2) Then two weeks later, they revoked Kik’s developer keys and crippled existing Kik installs by disabling Push support. This meant Blackberry Kik users (reportedly over a million of them) would start getting Kik messages up to an hour late. Link / discussion: <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1935093" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1935093</a><p>⁂<p>A week ago, we discussed the possibility of a lawsuit. Discussion: <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1935182" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1935182</a><p>⁂<p>Strikes me as evil and, as some of you are saying, a bad move politically for their platform. Even if only those 1,000,000 Kik on BB users care, and most BB users don’t, we developers generally give a shit, because this seems grossly uncalled for and anticompetitive.
Wow this is huge. They could have just removed them from the store. Instead they start a patent suit to basically kill the company.<p>Interesting strategy. RIM can't do much directly about the iOS and Android competition. But they can sue popular cross-platforms apps. Evil evil evil.
Something funny about them being literally a block away from each other.<p>RIM could have walked over to their office and had been like, "hey, can yous guys stop the messenger app. k thx. bai".<p>Google Map: <a href="http://bit.ly/ftLWro" rel="nofollow">http://bit.ly/ftLWro</a>
I can't pretend to be well informed on this kind of business strategy, but wouldn't another option be to BUY Kik? Turn the iPhone and Android app into a RIM-branded, cross-platform BBM, and incorporated it into the BlackBerry client. Maybe risky, but it might help their platform more than a lawsuit... If it was a really solid app maybe iPhone or Android users would think of getting a BB for their next phone, and it might keep current BB users where they are.<p>I dunno, this whole affair definitely seems poorly thought out. BlackBerry app development is horrible enough as it is, and there are more and more things making it unappealing. (one of the CEOs said mobile apps are a fad a few weeks ago)
Nothing says we want developers on our platform like suing the popular app makers. Even if there seemed to be some IP theft here, I think lawsuit is a horrible way to solve the problem. There is just no PR spin you could put here to fix this.
Perhaps in relation to this patent (and a host of others, I'm sure)...<p>METHOD FOR CREATING A PEER-TO-PEER IMMEDIATE MESSAGING SOLUTION WITHOUT USING AN INSTANT MESSAGING SERVER<p><a href="http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=RRaUAAAAEBAJ" rel="nofollow">http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=RRaUAAAAEBAJ</a>
As a founder of a Waterloo startup this pisses me off to no end. If RIM hadn't taken such hostile actions Kik may very well have been a Next Big Thing. I mean, Kik might still achieve that - and I damn hope they do - but it will be in spite of RIM's hostility.<p>Now for Waterloo region which has been trying to make a name for itself in the tech/startup world, having a Next Big Thing coming out of it would have been huge. It would have benefited the region from a financial standpoint (think PayPal mafia) and it would have benefited the region from a talent attraction standpoint.<p>RIM's actions are not only an assault on Kik they're an assault on Waterloo's startup community as a whole.
I would love to see the specific patent(s) Kik is infringing upon. It's a pretty standard IM client, if as the article says it is for: "sent, delivered, read, and even when a user is typing a message." then RIM has a lot of apps to go after.<p>Could be something more than that, as the CEO was a RIM employee at one point.
I'm sorry but how is this patentable : "I haven't read the Statement of Claim outlining RIM's allegations against Kik yet, but I suspect that the patent at issue covers a messaging platform that provides sent, delivered, read, and typing indicators."<p>Having family work at their Waterloo head office leaves me torn and full of questions. Even though I don't own a RIM phone, I handled their Storm and it's rock solid. The feel is much better my 3G test phone or couple of Android phones, but as a developer I choose to support companies based on merit. RIM just came down a notch in my book.<p>I compared Kik on my Android and the BBM on the Storm. I would be flabbergasted to find out the Canadian courts would allow this claim to play out.
I wonder when they will sue skype (which also has these indicators)...<p>Funny how RIM wrote an open letter (strangely removed from their site now) about how patents were a problem, and needed to be reformed. They got sued for similarly obvious patents not long ago, and had a very different attitude from the defendant's side of the argument.<p>Article about the now redacted letter: <a href="http://goo.gl/e6e4U" rel="nofollow">http://goo.gl/e6e4U</a>
Anyone able to attain a copy of the lawsuit?<p>This is what the article links to: <a href="http://cas-ncr-nter03.cas-satj.gc.ca/IndexingQueries/infp_RE_info_e.php?court_no=T-1996-10" rel="nofollow">http://cas-ncr-nter03.cas-satj.gc.ca/IndexingQueries/infp_RE...</a><p>I doubt this lawsuit has any real substance. Other than RIM dragging Kik through the equivalent of a legal hell, there doesn't seem to be much there.
Not mentioned here, but "RIM said Kik Chief Executive Ted Livingston worked on product strategy for its BlackBerry Messenger."<p><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704594804575648932379804088.html" rel="nofollow">http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870459480457564...</a><p>Not a minor point.
I guess RIM went to the Oracle school of business. They're going to find out exactly why this is a VERY bad move. They're going to have an awful time trying attract developers for their platform.
I wonder what the feasibility would be of developing a web client for BlackBerry, with long-polling or websockets for the notifications.<p><a href="http://us.blackberry.com/developers/browserdev/" rel="nofollow">http://us.blackberry.com/developers/browserdev/</a><p>The key viral feature was using the addressbook to populate the contact list, and you'd lose that, but still be able to implement a bunch of the other stuff. I can't tell from that browserdev page how much of the "widget API" is stuff that you'd need to get bundled up and signed, and how much is just available in the browser.<p>Either way, this is a pretty developer-hostile move on RIM's part. That's okay, though; all indications are that RIM is capable of developing a large selection of beautiful, compelling, worthwhile first-party apps for the Playbook. A third-party developer ecosystem would really just weigh the platform down.
While I agree with the consensus that this is evil (essentially cutting a start-up off at it's knees), RIM has a legal obligation to enforce that patent if they know someone is infringing or they risk losing it. The Kik founder should have been much more vocal about being booted and having his keys revoked; now he makes himself look like an easy target. He really needs to put PR pressure on RIM at this point if Kik is going to survive.
From this, it would seem that Kik violated both Apple and RIM store guidelines: <a href="http://getsatisfaction.com/kik/topics/serious_privacy_flaw_within_kik" rel="nofollow">http://getsatisfaction.com/kik/topics/serious_privacy_flaw_w...</a><p>My take: RIM saw the violations and the threat to BBM and decided to ban Kik. Apple saw the violations and the threat to BBM and decided to leave them alone. Makes sense in both cases
> I haven't read the Statement of Claim outlining RIM's allegations against Kik yet, but I suspect that the patent at issue covers a messaging platform that provides sent, delivered, read, and typing indicators.<p>So the guy admits to not reading the statement outlining the allegation, but he will comment on it anyway.
I hope the Barbra Streisand Effect happens here.<p>I love Kik; it is a brilliantly simple app that I use everyday and I would certainly be happy if more of my friends used it.
How else would you expect RIM to react to a product that infringes on one its core features? It's been pushing BBM heavily in its marketing campaigns, and can't afford to have that exclusivity taken away.<p>Doesn't seem evil to me.