Altnet, a company that distributes files legally through Kazaa and other peer-to-peer services, has sent legal threats to nine companies that monitor or meddle with file-trading networks, accusing them of violating its patent rights.
The cease-and-desist orders are the first legal use of a patent Altnet unveiled last June , under which it claims to hold rights to one of the most common means of identifying files on peer-to-peer networks. That technique, which uses a “hash,” or a digital representation of all the information in a file, has even been used by the Recording Industry Association of America in its fight against online copyright infringers.
Altnet, a division of Brilliant Digital Entertainment and a close partner with Kazaa parent Sharman Networks, has spent months in discussions with other file-swapping companies about licensing the technology, according to Executive Vice President Derek Broes. But the company has chosen to send legal warning letters to this group of companies because they’re using the technology in ways that Altnet wouldn’t necessarily approve of. Among other things, Altnet pays Kazaa for the right to place its customers’ files at the top of Kazaa search results.
“Our intent has always been to commercialize peer to peer, and if anyone is misusing our patent for any reason, I have to protect that intellectual property,” Broes said. “If they’re building business on the backs of the patent I worked hard to acquire, then they should talk to us.”
http://news.com.com/2100-1025-5106093.html
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