Kim Dotcom Claims He Owns Two-Factor Authentication Patent

Twitter has recently rolled out two-factor authentication and Kim Dotcom has come forward to say he is the inventor of this feature, and has the patent to prove it. The patent which was filed in 1998 and granted in 2000 is given to a Kim Schmitz, Kim Dotcom’s name before changing it in 2005.

“Google, Facebook, Twitter, Citibank, etc. offer Two-Step-Authentication. Massive IP infringement by U.S. companies. My innovation. My patent,” said Kim Dotcom on Twitter.

Kim Dotcom says he hasn’t sued because he believes in sharing knowledge for the good of society. However, given his current predicament he now believes he needs to leverage this patent in some way. Kim Dotcom says he has told Google, Facebook and Twitter that they can use his patent for free if they help fund his defenses against the U.S government.

He proceeded to make a sarcastic dig about patents saying “People used to imagine that 2013 would be full of flying cars & a cure for every sickness, but then patents happened”.

The two-factor authentication is a mechanism that intends to make it more difficult for hackers to access accounts illegally. When someone attempts to log in to a service from an unrecognized computer, the service sends a password to an alternative device, such as a cellphone number that was attached to the account. Thus, hacking an account is made more difficult without that last bit of information. Explains Softpedia.

What do you think of this revelation by Kim Dotcom? Should he start suing people for not paying fees to use his patent? Will his patent stand up in court?

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