The web sites belonged to Go Entertainment. The sites are back
on-line – but only after the company agreed to the licensing terms
of patent owner Acacia Media Technologies.
Acacia claims that, over the past several years, it has acquired
five US and 17 international patents for its DMT technology which,
it says, covers "the transmission and receipt of digital audio and
digital video content, commonly known as audio-on-demand,
video-on-demand, and audio and video streaming."
The company started a process for licensing its streaming
patents last summer by approaching adult entertainment companies.
In July this year, Acacia was granted an injunction against Go
Entertainment, prohibiting Go from streaming video from any of its
sites.
Go Entertainment ignored the court order and Acacia felt obliged
to enforce it against Go Entertainment's web host, taking its 42
sites off-line.
Acacia is one of an increasing number of companies that has
acquired a reputation for enforcing a patent portfolio. The most
dramatic of these has been the recent success of the tiny company
Eolas Technologies, which sued Microsoft for patent infringement in
its Internet Explorer browser. Not only was it awarded damages of
$520.6 million, but it has frightened the entire browser industry.
Although Microsoft is appealing, the verdict could have major
implications for the way web pages are designed.
The significance of Acacia's patents transcends adult web sites.
If their validity stands, they potentially cover almost all
transmissions of compressed digital content, not only over the
internet, but also over satellite and wireless services and
pay-per-view cable TV. Consequently, any business involved in
providing on-demand digital content, from content companies to
software companies and network service providers, will be
affected.
This is not Acacia's first success with patent enforcement. In
February it sued 39 adult entertainment companies which "were
previously notified of their infringing activity" but which refused
to enter into licensing arrangements. Twenty-three of these
companies have now obtained licenses, and the case is continuing
against the remaining 16. Go Entertainment brings Acacia's tally up
to 41 licenses.
