Altnet Settles Music Industry Patent Infringement Case.SHERMAN OAKS, Calif. -- In 2004, Altnet, its parent company Brilliant Digital Entertainment, Inc., and Kinetech, Inc., a patent licensing company, launched a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court alleging patent infringements patent infringement n. the manufacture and/or use of an invention or improvement for which someone else owns a patent issued by the government, without obtaining permission of the owner of the patent by contract, license or waiver. by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America, Washington, DC, www.riaa.com) A membership association of music recording companies. Its goal is to promote the record label industry and protect the rights of copyright owners. It was a major contributor to the SDMI digital distribution system. ), Loudeye Corp., Overpeer Inc., Media Sentry (now part of SafeNet) and a number of individuals. Overpeer and Media Sentry were the companies that the music industry called upon to flood Kazaa and other peer to peer (P2P See peer-to-peer and point-to-point. ) systems with "spoofed," that is, fake files. It was alleged that these files were damaged or otherwise counterfeit and that the methods used to distribute them infringed two patents critical to P2P business. The lawsuit was commenced after RIAA executives and other defendants were put on notice on a number of occasions in relation to the patents and their infringement. Altnet, on behalf of the plaintiffs in this case, is pleased to announce that a settlement has been reached with the Loudeye and Overpeer companies. Kevin Bermeister Kevin Bermeister has developed substantial businesses in the computers, video games and multimedia industries. He established Ozisoft in 1982, based in Sydney, Australia, which was one of the first interactive multimedia companies. , CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Altnet and spokesperson for the plaintiffs, said, "We welcome this settlement as an important step toward the acknowledgement and recognition of the TrueName patents as a prerequisite to legitimate utilization and exploitation of P2P technology." In a significant turn of events, Overpeer has admitted that its P2P interdiction INTERDICTION, civil law. A legal restraint upon a person incapable of managing his estate, because of mental incapacity, from signing any deed or doing any act to his own prejudice, without the consent of his curator or interdictor. 2. activities infringed the TrueName patents in question, as alleged by plaintiffs. Both companies have further undertaken not to engage in those activities in future. "It validates the position Altnet has held with regard to treatment of piracy occurring within P2P applications and establishes with clarity the underlying importance for Altnet to be considered an integral part of the future online entertainment industry," said Mr. Bermeister. The settlement was filed in the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. District Court, and the case against the remaining defendants will continue with a trial likely in 2007. The Speck Consulting Group has been engaged to manage the Altnet patent enforcement program. To find out more about Altnet, Inc., go to http://www.altnet.com |
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