Much discussion today of the implications of last week's Wi-Fi patent victory by CSIRO.

At ITPro, Guy Matthews says the consequences of the case "could be devastating for both makers and buyers of wireless products."

According to Matthews, Rehman Noormohamed, a lawyer with the firm Eversheds, says the finding could dissuade key players from participating in future standards, due to the threat of later lawsuits. And what's more, any additional costs (in the form of royalties to CSIRO) that result from the lawsuit "will simply be passed downstream to the buyer," he says.

"This in turn could stifle market competition, freedom of choice and ultimately the protection of businesses and individuals alike," Noormohamed says.

And according to CNET's Marguerite Reardon, Stan Schatt of ABI Research says, "One reason that Wi-Fi has proliferated as it has is because it's reached a point where it's incredibly cheap, so it's easy to just stick a Wi-Fi chip in a consumer electronics device. But if the cost of the technology goes up to pay for the license, even a little bit, it could throw off the economics."