The Invent Blog®

Yesterday a company named Altnet (who sells music and other products on-line through file swapping programs) sued the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) alleging patent infringement of USPN 5,978,791.  Altnet has been joint venturing with Kazaa.

The patent covers a technology known as “TrueNames,” which (according to a 2003 Altnet press release) covers “a method of identifying data based on the actual content of a file, rather than by the file name, origin, location, address, or other information that can easily be changed. A unique identifier, or hash, is assigned to the data using an algorithm in a patented process.  Networking applications can use the hash to identify files correctly.”

Altnet is alleging that the RIAA infringes the ‘791 patent through its support of two antipiracy companies (Overpeer and MediaDefender) who use the technology to frustrate Altnet’s business.  According to Cnet, Overpeer posts ”millions of false or corrupted files on networks such as Kazaa, trying to make real files harder to find” whereas “Media Defender uses “interdiction” techniques, which essentially clog networks with requests that block real download efforts.”  Both Overpeer and MediaDefender were likewise named defendants in the suit.

I checked PACER for the case this morning, but was unable to locate it (more likely than not PACER hasn’t been updated yet).  Presuming that the electronic docket is available, I’ll post a copy of the Complaint later.

See also:  P2P company sues RIAA over patent | CNET News.com

Via.

Related posts:

1. Interesting things in the Altnet v. RIAA patent infringement complaint
2. Altnet v. RIAA
3. The RIAA vs. John Doe, a layperson’s guide to filesharing lawsuits – The Digital Music Weblog
4. More invention promotion company complaints filed
5. Microsoft FAT patent to be Reexamined by the USPTO

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 9th, 2004 at 8:38 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.