register |
login
| search members submit a classified | request a media kit
connecting people & knowledge
InfringementNetRatings Sues WebSideStory for Patent InfringementAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on February 6, 2006 - 5:29am.
New York - NetRatings, a provider of Internet audience measurement and market research, announced on Monday that filed patent infringement claims against WebSideStory, a provider of Internet marketing services. New York-based NetRatings says the five patents in question cover the "collection, analysis and reporting of information concerning computer usage activity." "Our patented technologies are at the core of NetRatings' high quality, innovative product portfolio," said NetRatings CEO William Pulver. "As we see growing demand from Internet advertisers and marketers for products and services that rely on these technologies, we intend to aggressively pursue and expand our patent enforcement program." NetRatings has filed similar patent claims against Coremetrics, Omniture, SageMetrics and Sane Solutions.
Apple Sued for Patent Infringement of iTunes User InterfaceAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on June 22, 2005 - 8:50am.
San Francisco -- Apple Computer has been sued for patent infringement, by a software developer that claims Apple stole the user interface for its iTunes music player, AppleInsider.com reported. Vermont-based Contois Music Technology sued Apple in federal court last week, asking for an injunction to stop distribution of iTunes, in addition to unspecified damages for "willful" copyright infringement -- which, if agreed on by the court, would yield triple the normal monetary award. The suit alleges that Contois showed its design for a user interface for music player software at trade shows including COMDEX in 1995 and NAMM in 1996, where current and future Apple employees saw it and then incorporated it into iTunes -- which was first released in 2001. Contois claims it notified Apple of the infringement in September 2004, but believes the company learned of its patent in January 2003.
RIAA Sues More Internet2 Campus Song-Swappers for InfringementAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on May 31, 2005 - 5:29am.
Washington -- The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has expanded its copyright infringement litigation against collegiate file-swappers using the ultra-fast Internet2 network, last week filing a second wave of lawsuits against 91 people at 33 universities. The new lawsuits follow the RIAA's initial round of lawsuits against Internet2 users filed last month. "As long as students continue to corrupt this specialized academic network for the flagrant theft of music, we will continue to make it clear that there are consequences for these unlawful actions," said RIAA president Cary Sherman. In addition, the RIAA said it sued another 649 "John Doe" individuals for copyright infringement on public Internet file-sharing networks like Kazaa, LimeWire and Grokster.
Forgent Sues Microsoft for Infringement of JPEG Image Compression PatentAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on April 22, 2005 - 7:45am.
Austin, Texas -- Forgent Networks, a developer of scheduling software and holder of a number of technology patents, announced on Friday that it has sued Microsoft for infringement of its patent on JPEG Web image compression technology. Forgent's suit follows a prior complaint from Microsoft that seeks to invalidate the patent. It's unfortunate that, despite Microsoft's recent inquiries about licensing the patent, they chose to file a lawsuit, leaving us no alternative but to assert infringement claims against it," said Forgent chairman and CEO Richard Snyder. Forgent said it has generated more than $100 million in three years from licensing its '672 patent to 35 companies, adding that it has sued an additional 44 firms for infringing the patent.
RIAA Sues Another 744 File-Swappers for Copyright InfringementAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on August 25, 2004 - 1:57am.
Washington -- As the federal government conducted its first criminal copyright enforcement against file-swappers on Wednesday, The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced that it has filed another round of lawsuits against individual users of peer-to-peer networks, this time charging 744 people with copyright infringement. Many suits were filed against "John Doe" defendants, who the record labels will seek to identify through their Internet service providers, while others were identified by name and sued after not accepting an out-of-court settlement. The RIAA has now sued a total of over 4,000 individuals for copyright infringement on file-sharing networks since last September. The new lawsuits come the week after a blow was dealt to the entertainment industry's legal campaign against file-sharing, when a federal appeals court ruled that providers of file-sharing software like Grokster and Morpheus are not liable for any copyright infringement committed by users of the applications.
Judge Allows Infringement Case Against Napster Investors to Move ForwardAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on July 14, 2004 - 6:07am.
San Francisco -- A federal judge has denied motions to dismiss a lawsuit claiming that companies that invested in Napster during its early years, such as Bertelsmann and venture capital firm Hummer Winblad, could be held liable for copyright infringement for keeping the company afloat. U.S. District Judge Marilyn Patel on Wednesday ruled to allow the case to continue through the discovery process, where record labels and others could present evidence arguing that Bertelsmann's $90 million investment in Napster in 2000 cost them millions in lost sales due to copyright infringement. "By investing both millions of dollars and management resources in Napster, which was an illegal enterprise built on the unlawful distribution of copyrighted works, Bertelsmann and Hummer Winblad enabled and encouraged the wholesale theft of copyrighted music," Jeanne Meyer, a spokeswoman for major label EMI, told Reuters. "Our position remains that those allegations are not factually true and will be disproven through the discovery process," Bertelsmann attorney Bruce Rich told Reuters.
Acacia Suffers Setback in Streaming Patent Infringement LawsuitAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on July 14, 2004 - 5:31am.
Los Angeles -- A company claiming to hold patents on basic streaming media technology was delivered a blow on Monday, when a federal court judge essentially ruled several of its patent claims to be invalid, The Los Angeles Times reported. Acacia Research, which has already won licenses for its technology from Disney, Playboy, Radio Free Virgin and over 100 others, responded by saying that several of its claims are still intact, and that the judge has still not heard from expert witnesses on any of its claims. "This is one step in what is typically a long process," said Acacia chairman Paul Ryan. "We continue to believe that we have strong arguments of infringement." Acacia sued a number of adult website operators after they refused to license its technology; U.S. District Judge James Ware filed the preliminary order against Acacia on Monday. The company also has a patent lawsuit pending against the nation's top cable and satellite TV operators, including Comcast and DirecTV. "We're pleased that the court saw, frankly, a lot of it our way," Jonathan Singer, an attorney for nine of the adult sites sued by Acacia, told The Times. The next oral arguments in the case will likely be heard in the fall, with decisions coming in the following months. Acacia's shares were down 37% Tuesday on news of the ruling.
RIAA Sues Another 493 File-Swappers for Copyright InfringementAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on May 24, 2004 - 7:40am.
Washington -- The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced on Monday that it has sued an additional 493 individuals for infringing copyrights on peer-to-peer file-sharing networks, bringing the total of suits filed against song-swappers by the music industry trade group to nearly 3,000. The new lawsuits were filed against "John Doe" defendants, which the RIAA seeks to identify by subpoenaing information from their Internet service providers. The RIAA also said Monday that it sued 24 individuals by name, whose identities were discovered in previous John Doe lawsuits. Although as many as 400 defendants have settled with the RIAA for an average of $3,000, the group said it will follow through with litigation when defendants decline a settlement. "We will continue to go the extra mile and seek to resolve these cases in a fair and reasonable manner," said RIAA president Cary Sherman.
Bill Would Allow Justice Dept. to File Civil Copyright Infringement ClaimsAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 26, 2004 - 4:13am.
Washington -- A new bill has been introduced in Congress that would grant the U.S. Justice Dept., which currently only has the authority to file criminal copyright infringement claims, the additional power to bring civil copyright infringement claims against U.S. citizens and companies. The proposed legislation from Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and ranking member Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) would allow the government to target copyright infringers with charges that would bring only monetary fines, rather than potential jail time and a criminal record necessary under criminal cases. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which has targeted hundreds of Americans with civil copyright infringement actions for offering music for download on the Internet, applauded the Leahy-Hatch legislation. "As the recent announcement of the FBI's new anti-piracy warning attests, copyright infringement is a serious crime damaging the thousands of hardworking artists, songwriters and everyone else who help bring music to the public," said RIAA chairman and CEO Mitch Bainwol. "This legislation provides federal prosecutors with the flexibility and discretion to bring copyright infringement cases that best correspond to the nature of the crime."
Kodak Acquires 2 Digital Printing Firms; Sues Sony for Patent InfringementAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 9, 2004 - 6:30am.
Rochester, N.Y. -- Photo giant Eastman Kodak stepped up its move into the digital market yesterday when it acquired two digital printing companies owned by the German firm Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG for a combined $150 million. The two companies, NexPress Solutions and Heidelberg Digital, manufacture digital color and black-and-white printers. Separately, Kodak announced it has filed patent infringement claims against rival camera maker Sony, alleging the company is infringing on 10 of its patents covering digital photography technology. The suit seeks an injunction against further sale of the allegedly infringing products and unspecified monetary damages. "We have attempted to resolve the matter with Sony for almost three years, and the discussion between us have not led to a suitable licensing agreement," Kodak spokesman Gerard Meuchner told Reuters. Sony said it had not yet seen the suit and had no comment.
Hollywood Duplication Studio Fires 3 Charged With Copyright InfringementAuthored by dmw on February 13, 2004 - 9:02am.
Hollywood -- Lightning Media, a Hollywood film duplication studio and provider of new media services, announced on Friday that it terminated three of its employees following an FBI investigation that revealed the employees were allegedly violating criminal copyright laws. The employees are now facing criminal copyright infringement charges filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The FBI stated that Lightning Media is in no way culpable for the alleged infringements. "We learned, almost 6 months ago, that some employees were illegally in possession of unreleased feature films," said Lightning Media CEO Steve Buchsbaum. "These employees did so without the knowledge or authorization of Lightning Media. Apparently, they were able to circumvent our stringent piracy protection controls. We worked closely with the FBI to identify the perpetrators and to put a stop to the piracy."
Judge Says Kazaa Can Sue Record Labels for Copyright InfringementAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on January 23, 2004 - 2:47am.
Los Angeles -- A federal judge has cleared the way for file-sharing network Kazaa to pursue its own copyright infringement suit against the same record labels that have sued the company in an attempt to shut the service down. U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson said last week that Kazaa parent Sharman Networks may pursue its claims, which allege that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) used unlicensed versions of Kazaa to monitor the network for infringers; and also violated the Kazaa license agreement by sending Kazaa users unsolicited instant messages, and seeding the file-sharing network with bogus music files. "What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander," Michael Friedman, an attorney not involved with the case, commented to the Los Angeles Times.
RIAA Changes Tactics in Suing Another 532 Individuals for InfringementAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on January 21, 2004 - 3:03am.
Washington -- In a change of tactics following a recent legal decision, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) said on Wednesday that it is suing 532 individuals that it says illegally offered copyrighted music for download on the Internet. One month after a federal appeals court ruled that Internet service providers couldn't be forced to turn over the names of their accused subscribers through a streamlined subpoena process outlined in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the RIAA is now planning to use numerical IP addresses to subpoena the identity of their owners, Reuters reported. Since September, the RIAA has filed 282 lawsuits against accused file-swappers, settling 233 of them for an average of about $3,000. The RIAA said that alleged infringers under the new lawsuits, once identified, would be given the chance to settle, although likely for larger amounts due to higher legal fees under the new legal tactics.
TiVo Sues DISH Network Parent EchoStar for Patent InfringementAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on January 6, 2004 - 4:14am.
San Jose, Calif. -- TiVo, a developer of digital video recorder services, announced on Tuesday that it has sued satellite TV company EchoStar Communications, which operates the DISH Network, for patent infringement in a Texas federal court. San Jose, Calif.-based TiVo said that EchoStar is infringing on its "Time Warp" patent, which covers technology including a method for recording one program while playing back another, watching a program as it is recording, and a storage format that supports pausing a live television broadcast, fast-forwarding, rewinding, instant replays and slow motion. The company is seeking unspecified monetary damages as well as an injunction against future sales of digital video recorders by EchoStar. "We've invested in building a comprehensive patent portfolio to protect our intellectual property and as the DVR category grows, we will be aggressive in protecting those assets," said TiVo CEO Mike Ramsay.
Chipmaker Cirrus Logic Sues Rival Wolfson for Patent InfringementAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on October 10, 2003 - 4:36am.
Edinburgh -- Texas-based chipmaker Cirrus Logic announced on Friday that it has filed a patent infringement suit against Edinburgh-based Wolfson Microelectronics in U.S. District Court in California. The complaint alleges that several Wolfson products that incorporate digital-to-analog converters infringe U.S. patents held by Cirrus. The complaint seeks damages and requests a permanent injunction against Wolfson from making, selling or importing into the U.S. any infringing products. "Cirrus Logic has made substantial R&D investments to build a rich portfolio of intellectual property, and we will continue to solidify our competitive position through vigorous pursuit of companies we believe are infringing upon our patents," said Cirrus CEO David D. French CEO. Wolfson declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Yahoo Settles With EMI Group Over Launchcast Infringement SuitAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on October 3, 2003 - 5:17am.
Berlin -- Yahoo Inc. announced that it has settled a copyright infringement suit with EMI Group over Launchcast, Yahoo's Internet radio service. Yahoo said that it would make a one-time payment of an undisclosed amount under the agreement, which also grants Yahoo a license to stream EMI songs over Launchcast. EMI, Sony Music, Universal Music and Bertelsmann's BMG filed the copyright infringement lawsuit against Yahoo last May. The Internet company has already settled with Sony and Universal, while the lawsuit with BMG is still pending.
RIAA Reaches Settlements With 52 of 261 Sued for Copyright InfringementAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on September 30, 2003 - 9:46am.
Washington -- The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has settled 52 of the 261 lawsuits it filed against users of file-sharing networks for copyright infringement. Defense lawyers familiar with some cases told the Associated Press that settlement payments varied from around $2,500, to up to $10,000 in one instance. "It's a small enough number that it doesn't make economic sense to hire an attorney to litigate these," attorney Daniel N. Ballard, whose firm is representing several of the defendants, told AP. "I'm not surprised that ... people have been intimidated into signing this." The RIAA has said it intends to file "hundreds" more lawsuits against alleged file-swappers, but told a Senate Governmental Affairs subcommittee hearing held by Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) on Tuesday that it will now send notification letters to the file-swappers whose identities it subpoenas, encouraging settlements before it files a lawsuit.
Kazaa Sues Record Labels for Antitrust Violations, Copyright InfringementAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on September 24, 2003 - 11:00am.
Los Angeles -- Sharman Networks, distributor of the Kazaa file-sharing application, has countersued the major record labels currently suing the company for copyright infringement, alleging the labels are violating federal antitrust laws with anticompetitive behavior and unfair business practices. Specifically, the suit says that Kazaa held fruitful licensing talks with labels including Universal, Warner and Interscope that were later "stymied by industry body directives." It also says that the labels colluded to apply pressure to Kazaa's advertisers, ISPs and business partners. Ironically, Kazaa also accuses the labels of copyright infringement, when they used old versions of the Kazaa software to investigate the downloading habits of Kazaa users for use in their own lawsuits. "The industry has lost its way, choosing a path of endless litigation, rather than accepting a solution to copyright infringement that is available now, and a technology that is inexorable," said Sharman CEO Nikki Hemming. In a statement responding to the lawsuit, a Recording Industry Association of America spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times that Kazaa's "newfound admiration for the importance of copyright law is ironic to say the least."
EasyInternet Cafe Chain Guilty of Copyright InfringementAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on January 28, 2003 - 4:46am.
London -- In another favorable ruling for the record industry, a British judge on Tuesday found the popular EasyInternet Cafe chain guilty of copyright violation for allowing its customers to download music from the Internet and copy it onto CDs. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI), which took the Internet chain to court last year, charging it with copyright infringement, welcomed Tuesday's decision. Last week, a federal court in the United States, in a closely watched case, required Verizon to release the name of one of its customers who downloaded a large number of copyrighted songs to the Recording Industry Association of America.
Judge Rules Kazaa May Be Tried for Copyright Infringement In U.S.Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 13, 2003 - 6:55am.
Los Angeles -- A federal judge ruled late Friday that Kazaa, a peer-to-peer file-sharing service operated by Australia-based Sharman Networks, may be sued for copyright infringement by entertainment companies in the U.S. The company, which in addition to being based in Australia, is registered in the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu and operates servers out of a third country. Sharman argued in a motion that it could not be sued in California because it did not do direct business with California residents. "Given that Sharman's software has been downloaded more than 143 million times, it would be mere cavil to deny that Sharman engages in a significant amount of contact with California residents," U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Wilson wrote, in his 46-page ruling. Sharman will now become a third defendant in the music and motion picture industries' lawsuit against fellow file-sharing services StreamCast Networks and Grokster. Sharman spokesperson Kelly Larabee told the Associated Press that the company plans to file a counterclaim in which the company "will set forth the full story for the first time." http://www.eff.org/IP/P2P/MGM_v_Grokster/20030111_kazaa_jurisdiction_order.pdf
|
Upcoming DMW Events
December 8, 2009 | Santa Monica, CA www.lafilmconference.com 
January 8, 2010 | Las Vegas, NV www.digitalmediainsider.com 
Feb. 24-25, 2010 | New York, NY www.digitalmusicforum.com Events Calendar Submit a Speaker To receive event updates & announcements: 
DMW 100 Financial Index
NavigationUser loginAds |
Daily Newsletter and NetworkingLatest Top Stories
DMW Widget - Grab it and embed!Latest Briefly Noted
PollOur Sponsors
Other Ads |
Recent comments
3 days 6 hours ago
3 days 7 hours ago
3 days 8 hours ago
3 days 16 hours ago
3 days 17 hours ago
4 days 15 hours ago
4 days 22 hours ago
5 days 6 hours ago
5 days 6 hours ago
1 week 1 day ago