Quakester2000 used our news submit to tell us Altnet, a division of Brilliant Digital Entertainment, is sending legal warning letters to 9 separate companies over misuse of their patent. Altnet acquired rights in 2002 to a 1999 patent that the company says covers the technique of identifying files on peer-to-peer networks using a "hash," or digital fingerprint based on the contents of the file. The company wants all peer-to-peer services to license the technology. They are already close partners with Sharman Networks of Kazaa fame. The company's claim to own rights to such a basic file-identification technique is being scoffed at by the technically minded in Peer-to-Peer circles. There is a growing concern that the patent may be flawed. Critics are saying the US patent office will patent anything. A couple examples being, one granted for side by side swinging on a swing set and another for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with no crust.
Executive Vice President Derek Broes: "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." The full list of companies targeted by the Altnet letters includes '¢ BigChampagne |
Altnet is asking the companies to stop using the hash technique in their businesses unless they take a license. Broes said he had no immediate plans to pursue a similar strategy against the RIAA, which has used it's hashes to identify copyrighted files downloaded from Kazaa users' hard drives. "We have a good relationship with the RIAA, and we have lines of communication open with them," Broes said. "It is not a notice that we have served."
Source: zdnet.com.com
