Unfortunately, Blackboards' patents preclude this from becoming a reality. For the next 15 years, Blackboard has an exclusive right to practice this "virtual cl

Unfortunately, Blackboards' patents preclude this from becoming a reality. For the next 15 years, Blackboard has an exclusive right to practice this "virtual classroom" business method.[1] Their patent pledge[2] promises that they will not assert their rights against any open-source or home-grown initiative, which is why Stanford et al. are able to get away with hosting their own content in this format. It's a harsh reality that by itself makes the case for patent reform. [1]: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,493,396.PN.&OS=PN/7,493,396&RS=PN/7,493,396 http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sec... [2]: http://www.blackboard.com/about-bb/patents/patent-pledge.aspx http://www.blackboard.com/about-bb/patents/patent-pledge.asp...