Ridiculous Patent: Online Rich Media

The USPTO has awarded Patent #7,000,180, which covers "all rich-media technology implementations including Flash, Flex, Java, AJAX and XAML and all device footprints which access rich-media Internet applications including desktops, mobile devices, set-top boxes and video game consoles." Slashdot points out that the patent was applied for 5 years after the release of the original Flash application.