The Freeny Saga continues
In the latest news on the ongoing Freeny Saga, E-Data says it’ll, "initiate an aggressive new licensing and patent enforcement campaign in the 10 European Union countries where E-Data Corporation owns the rights to the Freeny patent".
After a painfully drawn-out battle, the company(Gift Express that was) has just settled Freeny patent infringement actions against OD2, HMV Group, Tiscali GmbH, a subsidiary of Tiscali SpA, and Microsoft Deutschland GmbH.
The controversial patent covers the downloading and recording of information – ie, music – from a computer onto CDs, DVDs and mp3 players. The OD2 platform enables Tiscali Music Club customers and HMV customers to download music tracks for a fee using Microsoft’s Windows Media Player and DRM technology.
E-Data hasn’t disclosed how much the settlement is worth.
Now, says chairman Bert Brodsky ominously, "OD2’s service in Europe parallels iTunes Music Store, a successful music downloading service developed by Apple in the United States, and which Apple plans to launch in Europe later this year. Moreover, we are currently in talks with a number of prominent companies in Europe infringing upon our intellectual property, and may seek injunctions against these companies if necessary."
