read this and you will see what I mean about the possibility of metacrawler license being taken away...sure would like to get my hands on a copy of that agreement with Netbolt...I wonder if that is in the public domain?...is it possible that the purchase of Dogpile was a safeguard against this possibility?
OUR PERFORMANCE DEPENDS ON THE SUCCESS OF THE METACRAWLER LICENSE
We entered into a License Agreement with Netbot, Inc. (the "MetaCrawler License Agreement"), in which Netbot, Inc. granted us an exclusive (subject to some limited exceptions), worldwide license to provide the MetaCrawler Service. As part of the MetaCrawler License Agreement, we have the exclusive right to operate, modify and reproduce the MetaCrawler Service (including, without limitation, the exclusive right to use, modify and reproduce the name "MetaCrawler" and the MetaCrawler URL in connection with the operation of the MetaCrawler Service). A material portion of the traffic to our Internet sites is currently derived from users of the MetaCrawler Service. A termination of the MetaCrawler License Agreement or the inability of Go2Net to continue to provide access to the search engines included in the MetaCrawler Service, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results. Netbot has licensed the MetaCrawler Service and the other intellectual property rights associated therewith from the University of Washington on an exclusive basis. The license has been granted to us by Netbot on an exclusive basis, but Netbot has reserved the right to use, modify, reproduce and license the MetaCrawler search engine for any purpose other than the provision of the MetaCrawler Service. The license is subject to the rights of the University of Washington to use, modify and reproduce the MetaCrawler search engine and derivatives of the MetaCrawler site to operate Internet sites for internal purposes within the University of Washington domain and to use, modify and reproduce any of the licensed technologies for research, instructional and academic purposes. The
search technology underlying the MetaCrawler Service and the MetaCrawler trademark is licensed to or owned by Netbot and sublicensed to us pursuant to the MetaCrawler License Agreement. |
