Patents
stcredzero: Patents are largely bullshit.  The only thing looking at patents can do for a you as a programmer is to give you a nasty case of brain cloud.  A few years ago, I spent a lot of time a few years ago looking at "Internet TV" related patents.  Any area that might be hot is patent trolled to death, and this was certainly true for video over the internet.  Best thing to do is to ignore it until people start becoming interested in you.