Judge Extends Online
TV Ban
John Borland
CNET News.com
2/8/2000 12:35 PM
A federal judge hammered another nail
into Net television start-up
iCraveTV.com's coffin today, effectively
ordering the site to stay offline through
a potentially lengthy trial process.
iCraveTV is the target of several massive
lawsuits by broadcasters and sports
leagues in Canada and the United States.
They say the small Net company's showing
of their TV shows online violates copyright
laws on both sides of the border.
iCraveTV has been offline since Jan. 28.
Late last month, the Pittsburgh, Penn.-based
court ordered the site to stop the broadcast
service temporarily. Today's ruling sets
that previous decision in stone, keeping the
Canadian company from serving any U.S.
citizens until a full trial is completed.
That process could take months or years.
iCraveTV launched in late November with
the goal of showing the content of 17
television launched in late stations online,
uncut and uninterrupted. But the company
didn't ask the TV stations' permission,
prompting an avalanche of legal threats and
lawsuits.
U.S. broadcasters and movie studios were
the first to sue, noting that the service was
available to U.S. Web surfers even though
the Canadian company said it had targeted
only Canadian viewers.
The use of U.S. television stations' content
amounted to "one of the largest and most
brazen thefts of intellectual property ever
committed in the United States," the
broadcasters said in their lawsuit. They
asked for $150,000 for every show that had
been streamed online over iCraveTV's
more than two months of operations.
The National Football League and the
National Basketball Association chimed in
on the same day, asking for another $5
million in damages. Canadian broadcasters
and movie studios sued a week later,
seeking an ambitious $75 million.
Today's ruling could give new impetus to
settlement talks, which had been expected
by some involved to be completed before
today's court hearing.
But Michael Manzo, an attorney for the
U.S. broadcasters, said no settlement is
imminent.
"There have been discussions about a
settlement," he said. "But I don't think
they're going anywhere at this point."
The injunction will now be in place
through the U.S. trial. The judge said an
initial hearing in that process would be
held in 90 days. iCraveTV could legally
still stream to users in Canada, but without
a technological way to ensure that U.S.
surfers were not accessing the site, the
orders have effectively shut the site down.
iCraveTV could not be reached for
comment. After the Pittsburgh judge's first
ruling, chief executive Bill Craig said he
would pursue all "legal and strategic"
options.
