Legal action threatens Vista, iTunes and iPod productions and sales as Media Rights Technologies (MRT) sent cease-and-desist letters to Microsoft and Apple accusing them of not using their technology. The above scenario could be the first of its kind because the usual way a suit work is that Company X sues Company Y for “infringing” upon its technology, or using it illegally but not for not using its technology.
MRT developed a product, the X1 SeCure Recording Control, which tries to prevent “stream ripping” when media is streamed into a media player. The product “has been tested by the industry’s standards bodies, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), and has been proven effective against stream ripping, while protecting privacy and limiting infringement liability for users, distributors and academic institutions,” the company said.
MRT said the failure to use an available copyright protection solution contravenes the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which according to its press released “It makes illegal and prohibits the manufacture of any product or technology that is designed for the purpose of circumventing a technological measure which effectively controls access to a copyrighted work or which protects the rights of copyright owners. Under the DMCA, mere avoidance of an effective copyright protection solution is a violation of the act,” according to the press released.
Not satisfied to leave it up to media player developers, MRT has issued cease and desist orders to Microsoft, Apple, Real Networks, and Adobe. MRT wants the companies to stop the production, sale, and distribution of products such as the Windows Vista Media Player, iTunes and iPod, Adobe Flash Player, and Real Player.
They said a failure to comply with the cease and desist order could result in a federal court injunction and/or the imposition of statutory damages of “at least $200 to $2500 for each product distributed or sold,” which when totaled amounts to a figure somewhere far beyond $1 billion.
Any company can send a cease and desist letter for practically anything, regardless of its legal merit. But the thing is MRT manage to get their product licensed and that’s a creative business strategy.



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