COPYCENSE

"A software company and its parent are claiming they hold patent rights to widely used Internet song-swapping technology, and they are demanding that several file-sharing networks obtain licenses in order to continue operating.

"Attorneys for Altnet Inc. and its parent company, Sherman Oaks, Calif.-based Brilliant Digital Entertainment Inc., sent letters to several U.S.-based file-swapping firms — including Lime Wire LLC, BearShare operator Free Peers Inc. and Mashboxx — claiming that the companies were using patented technology in their products. The letter doesn’t explicitly threaten a lawsuit but does invite the firms to ‘discuss licensing opportunities.’

"’You could call it a warning. We call it an offer to license our technology,’ said Lawrence M. Hadley, counsel for Altnet and Brilliant Digital.

"A valid patent would give the firm a tight hold on a popular means of identifying and trading digital copies of music, movies and software, just as a fledgling industry has sprung up to turn file sharing into a commercial enterprise."

David McGuire. Patents Pressed Against File-Sharing Networks. WashingtonPost.com. Jan. 13, 2005.

See also:
John Borland. Altnet Seeks Patent Royalties From P2P. News.com. Jan. 12, 2005.

(Editor�s Note: The Post allows free access to their stories on the Web for 14 days before sending the stories to the paper�s fee-based Archives.)

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