Free Republic

<p>July 18, 2003 -- SOLDIERS complain. God knows, I did when I was a private. Fighting men have been bitching since the first semi-organized bands of cave-dwelling warriors went at each other with sticks, rocks and beer bottles.</p> <p>You have to take what you hear with a grain of salt.</p>

By MATTHEW BARAKATAP Business Writer Published June 9, 2003 GREAT FALLS, Va. -- Thomas Woolston's recent $35 million victory in a patent infringement suit against Internet colossus eBay has brought both vindication and vilification. The vindication comes from the decisiveness of the jury's verdict after an exhaustive five-week trial. The jury gave the northern Virginia inventor's tiny company, Great Falls-based MercExchange, nearly everything it asked for, and found that eBay's infringement had been "willful," meaning the judge can triple the $35 million award.