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Technology Stocks : IATV-ACTV Digital Convergence Software-HyperTV

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To: Mike Fredericks who wrote (6355)	8/29/1999 11:18:00 AM
From: NY Stew	Read Replies (1) of 13157

Mike, Do I take Gemstar lightly? No. (Although I'm not yet convinced american's want Smart Cards - some trials have failed. Maybe it's just too early). I agree with the slow adoption of Smartcards but I just listed that as one example. Europe has had greater success in this area to date. The only question in my mind is whether or not Gemstar's patents will prevent TVGIA from releasing their product, or will cause Gemstar to sue TVGIA and have the product removed after it has been released. If the answer to that question is "no," then I'm not concerned about the impact on IATV. Gemstar and TV Guide (via United Video vs Starsight) have been it litigation for years. The first decision came down in favor of Gemstar and the parties (along with T's cable division) are in settlement talks at this time. This is just the first layer of litigation and only the first of 10 patents in this particular suit. There is no guarantee of a settlement but the liabilities will begin to increase significantly once TV Guide starts interactive advertising from the alleged tainted product. DirecPC sends a bunch of HTML via Satellite, for example. Hughes has long been a Gemstar licensee as are all of its other DirecTV system manufacturers (Thomson, Sony, Philips. etc.). But back to Gemstar, I have done very little dd on that company and wouldn't have any problem if they succeeded, so long as it doesn't interfere with IATV's rollout with TVGIA. I am not certain that it will and didn't mean to suggest that but ACTV has saddled the TVGIA horse and may be affected by any settlements or additional unfavorable court decisions. There should be a decision coming this week or next in a separate yet related legal matter, Gemstar vs General Instruments. In a similar case against Scientific Atlanta an injunction was awarded in favor of Gemstar as well as monetary damages. Regards Stew

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