IN THE UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
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`In re Patent of: Racz et al
`U.S. Patent No.: 8,336,772
`Issue Date:
`December 25, 2012
`Appl. Serial No.: 13/212,047
`Filing Date:
`August 17, 2011
`DATA STORAGE AND ACCESS SYSTEMS
`Title:
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`USPTO Control No.: TO BE DETERMINED
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`DECLARATION OF STEVEN BLUMENFELD
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`1. My name is Steven Blumenfeld. I understand that I am submitting a declaration in connection
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`with the above-referenced Covered Business Method (“CBM”) review proceeding pending in
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`the United States Patent and Trademark Office for U.S. Patent No. 8,336,772 (“the ‘772
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`Patent”).
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`2.
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`I have been retained on behalf of Samsung Electronics America, Inc. to offer my knowledge
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`with respect to radio broadcasting. My compensation is not based on the kind or quality of
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`statements that I have made in this declaration, which are based on my observations and
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`experiences in digital rights management, mobile communications, and production.
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`3. I have been heavily involved with digital rights management, mobile communications, and
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`production technologies for over 30 years. I have been an engineer and a senior executive
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`with major roles in a variety of entrepreneur ventures. These roles include Chief Technology
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`Officer (“CTO”) of Sportvision, Tada Innovations, Inc., Participant Media, Sparkplay Media,
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`Current TV, and Razz.com, Executive Director of Platform Services for AOL Broadband,
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`Vice President of Technology in the CTO’s office at Time Warner, Vice President of
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`Advanced Services for Time Warner, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of AOL
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`Time Warner’s consumer service – AOL by Phone, and CTO of AOL Music’s Spinner and
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`Nullsoft (Winamp/SHOUTcast) division and General Manager of the Nullsoft group, various
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`technical and business roles at GTE – now Verizon, Director of Private Networks for GTE
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`GNI (Global Network Infrastructure) – now Level 3, Director of Strategic Alliances between
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`GTE and Cisco, and Vice President of Technology and Studio Operations at GTE Interactive
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`Media.
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`4.
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`Further, I am an inventor with patents in digital rights management, mobile communications
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`and production technology. I have also been a feature column writer for Broadcast
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`Engineering magazine. My columns have included articles about Content Security, Internet
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`Streaming, Internet Appliances, Fiber Optic Transmission, Network Security, Set Top Boxes,
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`and MPEG and Interactive Television.
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`5. During the late 1970's and 1980's, I worked as a post-production and broadcast radio engineer
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`in California. During this time at various radio stations, I also worked as an on-air radio Disc
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`Jockey (“DJ”). Pursuant to my responsibilities working at a radio station, I gained first hand
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`knowledge of (and experience with) the process of selecting and playing specific music based
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`on rules set up by the Station’s Management. These rules involved a "rotation clock,"
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`accompanied by a requirement to report, by way of a paper log, everything that I selected for
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`broadcast and the time it was played.
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`6. While working as a radio engineer and DJ for over 10 years, I supported radio station program
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`directors in administering radio station policy and programming. I supported program
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`directors in developing playlists, which were lists of songs selected to be played on air by
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`myself and other DJs. These playlists were compiled based on review of vinyl records,
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`whether directly or indirectly (i.e., based on music reproduced from them).1 The selection of a
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`particular song for addition to the playlist was usually based, at least in part, on applicable
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`rights as well as information pertaining to the song as it related to objectives in supporting
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`various promotions, advertising campaigns, and “feel” for a station. Typically, information
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`descriptive of the content and the station’s intent/views of a particular piece of content was
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`provided on the sleeves, jackets, and/or labels of the records. We used this information to
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`identify and select content. A label affixed to a particular record would, for example, identify
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`the songs stored on the record and would also provide information related to the artist and the
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`artist’s label. The sleeve and jacket of a record also typically provided additional information,
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`identifying, for example, the record’s publishing company.
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`7. As noted above, one of our goals in developing playlists was to establish and maintain a certain
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`“feel” for the station, in keeping with the station’s format, with a typical commercial broadcast
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`including public service announcements, advertisements, and music. As part of the process of
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`programming, we categorized songs to provide radio station personnel with additional
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`information used during the broadcast. For example, we categorized song titles appearing on
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`the station’s playlist through color coding. The titles of a high tempo song were, for example,
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`coded “red”, with the title of a slower song being coded “blue.” We labeled records containing
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`coded songs as such for easy identification during playback. Methods for coding included
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`1 Although my affidavit makes reference to records and albums, we used a variety of formats
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`including tape, compact discs, and other media. For the purposes of this affidavit, when referring to
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`records or albums, please consider it to any instance of recorded media irrespective of whether the
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`recorded media is accessed at a radio station or a retail establishment.
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`“coding” a song by color by using an album color, maintaining a directory of songs by color,
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`and storing different albums on different color coded shelves or portions of a shelf. Other
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`complementary methods of organization used at my station included separating shelving for
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`the station’s catalog of older music from shelving provided for new music and for music that
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`we were required to play.
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`8. At my stations, songs were categorized to create a highly visible radio show “clock” or
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`program guide, which was a circular diagram illustrating particular content and/or types of
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`content to be played at specific times. A clock would indicate, for example, that a DJ such as
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`myself should start a particular hour of broadcast with a red song, followed by a blue song and
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`then a commercial.
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`9. Beyond the need to select songs consistent with the feel of a station, it was necessary to select
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`songs in compliance with applicable licensing requirements. To facilitate compliance, and also
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`to ensure that the station’s policies and rules were being followed (for example that certain
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`songs were being played as often as they should be), a running log was maintained at our
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`station of songs actually played by the station. Maintaining an accurate log was one of the key
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`responsibilities of the DJ and engineer.
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`10. As a DJ, engineer, and interactive television manager in the time frame prior to the priority
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`date, I populated logs of songs that I played. During this time frame, auditors, including
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`auditing listeners, were employed to verify the accuracy and completeness of logs that I created
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`and maintained. The job of an auditing listener was to listen to the station over a period of
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`time and to record what was heard, for purposes of checking the results against the station’s
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`logs.
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`11. At my station, a clock was posted on a physical board administered by program directors
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`nearby an official log used to record which content was played over the air. I checked the
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`clock for information on what to play during broadcasts, and I also maintained a pencil and
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`paper diary, that is, a log of songs that were actually played on air. The diary would then serve
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`as the basis for updating the official log.
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`12. Within the parameters set by the program directors, I had discretion to select content for
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`radio play. I reviewed, prior to a broadcast, a radio show clock prepared by a program
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`director and then visited the station’s record library to select particular songs meeting the
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`criteria indicated by the clock. As discussed above, the records contained in the library bore
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`labels identifying the recorded content and providing other information. Prior to selecting
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`songs for my broadcasts, I sometimes also reviewed prior playlists to inform my decisions,
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`determining what had recently been played, and how many times it had been played. I then
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`pulled the records off the shelves, inspecting each record and its label as I did so. By looking
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`at the label, I confirmed that the record included a particular song that I intended to play.
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`Looking up the label, for me as a DJ, resembled the steps that I took when acting in the
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`capacity of a consumer looking up a record label at a retail store. To illustrate, as a consumer
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`in 1994, I would routinely enter retail stores to select a record albums for purchase. In one
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`instance, I picked up a record album and read, from the record label and the record sleeve,
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`information including a song names. I also read, from the record label and sleeve, pricing
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`information and more detailed information describing the recording (including duration). In
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`another instance, I asked the store clerk to direct me to available rock singles, and to make a
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`recommendation. I would often shop for used records and speak with a knowledgeable
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`salesperson if I was interested in exploring a less-familiar album. If the album seemed like a
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`good fit, the salesperson would direct me to a listening booth. In this instance, I also asked
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`the store clerk to describe the recorded music, and to tell me the album’s price. In the first
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`instance, I selected an album based on the information from the record label, and in the
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`second I selected a single based on information from the store clerk.2 These acts of selecting
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`an album and song as a consumer were virtually identical to my actions in selecting songs as
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`a DJ at my radio station. For example, in my work as a DJ, visually inspecting the records
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`themselves was also important because, occasionally, a program director would prevent the
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`playback of a particular track by applying white out to the record. In order to ensure that I
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`complied with the policies and objectives of my radio station, I would also sometimes ask my
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`colleagues whether a proposed selection of songs complied with applicable guidelines. For
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`example, I routinely asked fellow DJs to tell me about the content recorded on an album,
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`such as whether an album contained inappropriate lyrics or subject matter. Typically, my
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`colleagues would answer my questions by describing the content. Sometimes, I also queued
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`a song up prior to playing it, as a way of confirming that the song was indeed the one that I
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`had intended to put on the air. In some instances, after the record albums were selected for
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`2 As a shopper, I would sometimes pay for my selection by using a credit card, which
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`resulted in the transfer of information to and from a credit card company as part of the process of
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`payment. I would not be allowed to purchase and take an item until the credit card had been
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`approved. In some instances, I would pay in a first location (e.g., a cashier) and pick up a purchased
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`good by presenting my receipt at a different location. For example, when I lived in Southern
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`California in the 1980s, I had once purchased some lumber in Van Nuys, California. I paid up front
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`at a cash register and then went to the lumber portion of the hardware store to present my receipt. A
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`lumberyard foreman would inspect my receipt before I was allowed to take receipt of the lumber.
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`broadcast, I would manually access and retrieve the albums from shelves in the station’s
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`music storage facility. This allowed me to gather all of the albums for a particular broadcast
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`at the start of the broadcast session.
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`13. Later in my career, from 1990-2000, I worked as an interactive television Producer and CTO at
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`GTE. My responsibilities included directly licensing, from Discovery Communications, Inc.
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`and from World Book, Inc., content to be integrated into television programs and, in that way,
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`to be made accessible to our users. Our technology enabled a user watching a documentary,
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`for example, to select and then interact with clips and articles relating to the documentary’s
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`subject matter, while the documentary was playing. We paid a licensing fee to enable access to
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`a library of content, ensuring that all content accessed by the users was properly paid for. The
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`license required us to track usage, and later report the same to Discovery Communications, Inc.
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`and World Book, Inc. Based on records that we diligently maintained of each piece of media
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`content played, we reported, on a routine basis, each and every instance of usage/consumption
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`of media to Discovery Communications, Inc.
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`14. I also managed one of the earliest Internet radio stations while working at Spinner.com (later
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`Radio@AOL). Specifically, I was CTO of AOL Music’s Spinner and Nullsoft
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`(Winamp/SHOUTcast) division and General Manager of the Nullsoft group. Radio@AOL
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`later became one of the largest Internet radio broadcasters. As an executive, my
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`responsibilities included developing products that helped users to select music to listen to,
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`and to provide users with information about music as it was streamed, including song titles
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`and the names of artists. As the applicable rules and regulations for Internet radio were being
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`revised, we attempted to mimic best practices from terrestrial radio stations in order to better
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`address copyright concerns. Among other practices, we developed software to track the
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`songs that were played, the software effectively replacing the pen-and-paper logging
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`processes previously employed in broadcast radio.
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`15.
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`I hereby declare that all statements made herein of my own knowledge are true and that all
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`statements made on information and belief are believed to be true. I hereby declare that all
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`statements made herein of my own knowledge are true and that all statements made on
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`information and belief are believed to be true; and further that these statements were made with
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`the knowledge that willful false statements and the like so made are punishable by fine or
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`imprisonment, or both, under Section 1001 of Title 18 of the United States Code.
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`Signature: ______/Steven Blumenfeld /_________________________ Date: January 15, 2015
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` Steven Blumenfeld
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