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Technology Stocks : RealNetworks (NASDAQ:RNWK) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: trouthead who wrote (4718)	12/25/1999 10:26:00 AM
From: Pruguy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5843

December 23, 1999 RealNetworks Sues Streambox.com by Michael Learmonth In October, Streambox.com, a Seattle-based software company, issued a giddy press release announcing that its programmers had "cracked" the source code of RealNetworks' RealPlayer, allowing users to copy and distribute previously restricted audio and video. Soon, it may be facing RealNetworks in court. In a suit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle, RealNetworks accuses Streambox.com of violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act with its "Streambox Ripper" and "Streambox VCR," products designed to decode audio and video files intended only to be heard or viewed by users of RealNetworks' RealPlayer. The suit also alleges that Streambox knowingly infringed on a RealNetworks copyright with "Streambox Ferret," software that ads functionality but also changes the appearance of RealPlayer on the desktop. "Filing the suit demonstrates the importance of digital copyrights in the digital age," said Alex Alben, RealNetworks vice president of government affairs. "We will take significant action to ensure that programming and content delivered by RealNetworks products is protected." Streambox CEO Bob Hildeman said he had not yet seen the suit and declined to comment. RealPlayer has been downloaded 92 million times from RealNetwork's Web site. The software allows users to "stream" copyrighted audio and video files to their desktop. But unlike an open-source format like MP3, RealPlayer won't allow end users to make additional copies or distribute the material to others. "Only by affording this protection against the piracy of copyrighted works has RealNetworks been able to encourage copyright holders to make their content accessible over the Internet," the suit alleges. Streambox's products bypass RealNetwork's security system to circumvent those protections. According to the Streambox Web site, Streambox Ripper "rips open" RealAudio files and converts them to MP3, WAV, or Windows Media Audio formats. The Streambox VCR mimics a RealPlayer, the suit alleges, tricking a secure server into interacting with it and allowing video to stream or be downloaded onto a user's computer. The Streambox Ferret changes the appearance of the RealPlayer interface, the suit alleges, replacing the Snap.com logo that usually appears on the player with a Streambox logo. RealNetworks is also suing Streambox for interfering with its contract with Snap.com, which is supposed to provide exclusive search services for the RealPlayer G2. Snap.com compensates RealNetworks based on the number of searches conducted through RealPlayer.