Until Apple released their court documents, it has been difficult to find articles or information that question the validity of the Burst.Com patents. The most often cited article in this regard was written Apple QuickTime Evangelist Charles Wiltgen. In his blog published October 31, 2002, with the title "Burst.com's streaming snake oil", he writes:

"While I was Apple’s QuickTime Evangelist, I was a magnet for all kinds of folks who claimed to have miraculous codecs and other holy-grail technologies. Burst.com claimed to have a revolutionary way of delivering streaming content. Lossless. Faster than realtime."

"Well, golly. You can deliver content losslessly and faster than real time via HTTP and FTP, too. Only Burst.com did this with a magical, proprietary protocol that required a magical, proprietary server that they would be happy to sell to you. The secret of the “secret sauce” that Burst.com CEO Richard Lang mentions in the feature is that there is no secret sauce."

...and later...

"QuickTime’s “Fast Start” provided much of this functionality with QuickTime 3’s progressive streaming (1998), and QuickTime 6 added the final missing piece (random access) with its Instant-On feature earlier this year. RealNetworks uses a similar method to optimize the viewing experience in RealSystem 9.

Burst.com is one of the last vestiges of the P.T. Barnums that contributed to the terminal over-inflation of the Internet bubble. It’s time that they go away, and I’m rooting for Microsoft as they pound the nails in the coffin."

http://playbacktime.com/2002/10/31/burst...
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COMMENT: Wiltgen seems to be late coming to this "streaming" party and after wading through all the "mayonnaise" in the Apple legal documents one has to wonder who is the real snake oil salesman here?

I wonder if the Apple legal team has spent some time studying at the P.T. Barnum School of Law?