CoStar Settles Dispute Over Suspected Misuse Of Its Proprietary Database.Business Editors BETHESDA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 4, 2003 CoStar Group CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGP) is a leading provider of information services to commercial real estate professionals in the United States and the United Kingdom. CoStar's suite of services offers customers access via the Internet to the most comprehensive database of , Inc. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on : CSGP CSGP Combat Support Group (USAF squadron type) CSGP Computer Systems Group ), the leading provider of information services See Information Systems. to commercial real estate professionals in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and the United Kingdom, today announced it has resolved a copyright infringement dispute with a commercial real estate firm in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. and Above New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , Inc., an online listings database that hosts the AboveNY.com website. CoStar Group learned of the AboveNY.com database and its apparent ties to a CoStar licensee in late November 2002. Recognizing that there did not appear to be a sufficient research staff supporting the AboveNY.com site, CoStar launched an investigation. The investigation revealed that significant portions of CoStar's copyrighted database were reproduced and posted on the site without permission, including content fingerprinted by CoStar to identify misuse. The parties agreed to pay CoStar up to $160,000 to settle the dispute, and the offending portions of the database have been destroyed. Under the settlement, CoStar has received a portion of the cash settlement amount and agreed to defer the remainder to be paid in the event of future violation. "Our licenses grant our customers very broad rights to use the CoStar products licensed to them, but what happened here was way over the line," commented Carla Garrett, CoStar's general counsel. "Our loyal customers depend on the continued availability, enhancement and reasonable pricing of our databases, and we must protect our investment." About CoStar Group, Inc. CoStar Group, Inc., (NASDAQ: CSGP) is the leading provider of information services to commercial real estate professionals in the United States and the United Kingdom. CoStar's suite of products offers customers access via the Internet to the most comprehensive, verified database of commercial real estate information on 50 U.S. markets, London and the United Kingdom. Based in Bethesda, MD, the company has approximately 875 employees in 34 offices throughout the United States and the United Kingdom, including the largest professional research organization in the industry. This news release includes "forward-looking statements," which involve many risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those stated in CoStar's Form 10-Q Form 10-Q See 10-Q. for the Quarter ended September 30, 2002, under the heading "Risk Factors." All forward-looking statements are based on information available to CoStar on the date hereof, and CoStar assumes no obligation to update such statements. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion