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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Streamcast Head Undaunted by U.S. Court Decision

The fat lady might not have sung, according to Michael Weiss, president and CEO of Woodland Hills-based Streamcast Networks, but if she hasn’t yet begun to croon, she’s certainly warming up her vocal cords. Because of a stunning unanimous decision handed down by the United States Supreme Court, Streamcast Networks, along with fellow defendant Grokster, will be having its day in court against the Recording Industry Association of America, the Motion Picture Association of America and 27,000 various music publishers and songwriters. This coalition is alleging that Streamcast, through its software program Morpheus, is aiding and abetting music and film piracy on the web. Streamcast insists that it is only a software developer and has little or no involvement with what the downloaders on its network do. If Streamcast ultimately loses, the amount of money it would be forced to pay could sink the company, industry watchers speculate. But though its future remains anything but certain, Weiss maintains that his 24-employee company will continue to fight for its life. “When you take a look at what the Supreme Court said, they maintained that companies should not be allowed to profit from illegal activities,” Weiss said. “When you step back and take a look at it, it makes sense. We don’t disagree. We have to prove that we haven’t induced people to do anything illegal and we think that we can do that without a shadow of doubt.” James Gibson, a professor of intellectual property and computer law at the University of Richmond School of Law, believes that Streamcast still has a chance to win in court. “There’s a chance that the defendants can still survive. It all depends on the way that the appeal is handled,” Gibson said. “When one party wins a summary judgment, the appellate court looks at the facts of the case in the most favorable light of the losing party. All the facts that the Supreme Court recited were seen in the way most favorable to the plaintiffs. A jury might view the facts differently and it could go to a jury.” Previous to the Supreme Court’s decision, Streamcast had won consecutive victories from a lower district court in Los Angeles and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco. The Supreme Court’s decision means that it will likely return to the same lower courts, although Gibson predicts that the media companies will likely seek an injunction against Streamcast. “The plaintiffs are going to go back aggressively and ask for an immediate injunction to stop Streamcast from profiting and distributing its product,” Gibson said. “They will say that these new standards justify a new measure, and they have a chance at winning. On the other hand, if Streamcast can survive that proceeding, it’s going to take a while to complete the pre-trial process. If they can survive that pre-trial onslaught, they’ll be around for a little while at least.” In the meantime, Weiss talked up his company’s new Morpheus 5.0 version that was released last week. The release came after two years of product development. He insists that despite the Supreme Court’s decision, his company will prevail over time. “We’re unanimous with federal judges. While we didn’t win with the Supreme Court, we didn’t lose,” Weiss said. “We don’t license content, we make software and provide a distribution channel. Before the Supreme Court took up our case, we were in discussions with two of the major labels. Our door is open. We believe there are solutions that can be reached without lawyers.” But despite Weiss’ attempts to reach out to the media companies, Bo Andersen, the president of the Encino-based Video Software Dealers Association of America, frowned at the idea of such an unlikely alliance. Additionally, Andersen believes that the odds of Streamcast’s survival are very unlikely. “I don’t think that they can prove their case. They certainly didn’t convince the Supreme Court. They’re going to have an extremely steep road. I think that their chances are very slim,” Andersen said. “The decision declared the state of the law. Without the principle of law, you cannot build a lawful response to online piracy and you can’t convince consumers that piracy is unethical if there is doubt about what it is lawful and what is unlawful.” CBS Breaks Ground Ground has been broken on a new broadcast facility in Studio City for KCBS-TV (Channel 2) and KCAL-TV (Channel 9). In a ceremony held on June 17, a crowd of local dignitaries including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel and a team of Viacom executives donned hardhats and held gold shovels to dedicate the new facility on the CBS Studio Center lot. The new facility will be constructed on 11.5 acres of land. It will include a 610-space parking garage and a 162,000 square foot, three-story building that will house the studios’ offices and broadcast studios. It is anticipated that CBS 2 and KCAL 9 will move into their new home during the first quarter of 2007. Villaraigosa had praise for the studio executives’ decision to keep the facility in the city of Los Angeles. “I know that you could have gone to another city to build this studio, but I’m extremely happy that you stayed here,” Villaraigosa said. “I know that the city of L.A. hasn’t always been the best place to do business, but along with councilwoman Greuel, we’re going to make it better.” The so-called duopoly’s newsroom will be named after long time news anchor the late Jerry Dunphy. Dunphy had worked as a lead anchor for both Channel 2 and Channel 9. Staff Reporter Jeff Weiss can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or at [email protected] .

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