“Defunct movie download service Intertainer Inc. filed a patent infringement suit in federal court against Apple Computer Inc., Google Inc., and Napster Inc.,” Sarah McBride reports for The Wall Street Journal.
According to the WSJ article, Apple and the others named have violated Intertainer’s patent “for its digital entertainment platform, which allows content owners like movie studios to manage how they distribute their titles and at what cost.” Intertainer seeks unspecified damages.
McBride reports, “Intertainer launched an early movie download service in the late 1990s, preceding later entrants like Movielink LLC and Apple’s iTunes movie store. But the service, stymied by low acceptance among consumers and difficulties with studio negotiations, never took off, and Intertainer shut down in 2002. It then sued the major studios for anticompetitive behavior and settled out of court last year.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Adam W.” for the heads up.]