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LEGAL ACTION TAKEN AGAINST ICRAVETV WebPosted Fri Jan 21 21:28:17 2000 WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Calling it one of the "largest and most brazen thefts of intellectual property" ever, some U.S. film and television companies have launched legal action against a Canadian Internet firm, iCraveTV. U.S. Federal Judge, Donald Ziegler scheduled a January 28 hearing for the lawsuit. The Web site, run by TVRadio Now Corporation of Toronto, offers people free access to several broadcasters' signals, including the CBC. The company picks up 17 television signals with a regular antenna and then puts the grainy signals on its site. The 24-hour service makes money from advertising, not from subscriber fees. Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, accused the Canadian Internet service of "one of the largest and most brazen thefts of intellectual property ever committed in the United States." "This is a clear and damaging case of theft by iCraveTV that threatens the intellectual property, investments and achievements of the U.S. television and motion picture industry," Valenti said in a statement released Thursday. "This kind of cyberspace stealing must be stopped, wherever it occurs, because it violates the principles of U.S. copyright law," Valenti added. "Copyrighted programs and films don't fall from the skies; they evolve from creative artists, supported by considerable financial investments." Last month, not long after the site appeared on the Web, several major television networks on both sides of the border threatened to sue the small company unless it stopped broadcasting their programs. On Thursday, 10 film and three broadcast organizations filed a complaint in a U.S. district court in Pennsylvania, accusing iCraveTV of copyright infringement, trademark infringement and unfair competition. They want a judge to stop the company from broadcasting any more of their programs on the Internet. The 13 complainants named in Thursday's suit are: ABC Inc.; CBS Broadcasting Inc.; Fox Broadcasting Co.; Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.; Disney Enterprises, Inc.; Columbia TriStar Television, Inc.; Columbia Pictures Television Inc.; Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.; Orion Pictures Corp.; Paramount Pictures Corp.; Universal City Studios, Inc.; and Time Warner Entertainment Co. L.P. (Warner Bros.). In the past, iCraveTV's president Bill Craig argued that he's doing nothing wrong. "This is allowed in this country," Craig said last month. "You're allowed to make money in an entrepreneurial way and we have found a way to bring TV programming to people without charging them a monthly fee." Thursday afternoon, the company issued a brief statement saying it believes it's complying with all applicable laws, and that it intends to defend itself in court. The CRTC has said in the past it has no intention of regulating the Internet, which some industry analysts say may have opened the door for iCraveTV. The issues raised in the lawsuit have never been tested in court. Since many people predict the Internet will one day compete head-on with traditional cable and satellite systems, the outcome has enormous implications. <http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/email.cgi?/news/2000/01/21/icrave000121> janet paterson 52 now / 41 dx / 37 onset a new voice: http://www.geocities.com/janet313/ 613 256 8340 PO Box 171 Almonte Ontario Canada K0A 1A0