The web sites belonged to Go Entertainment. The sites are back on-line – but only after the company agreed to the licensing terms of patent owner Acacia Media Technologies.
Acacia claims that, over the past several years, it has acquired five US and 17 international patents for its DMT technology which, it says, covers "the transmission and receipt of digital audio and digital video content, commonly known as audio-on-demand, video-on-demand, and audio and video streaming."
The company started a process for licensing its streaming patents last summer by approaching adult entertainment companies. In July this year, Acacia was granted an injunction against Go Entertainment, prohibiting Go from streaming video from any of its sites.
Go Entertainment ignored the court order and Acacia felt obliged to enforce it against Go Entertainment's web host, taking its 42 sites off-line.
Acacia is one of an increasing number of companies that has acquired a reputation for enforcing a patent portfolio. The most dramatic of these has been the recent success of the tiny company Eolas Technologies, which sued Microsoft for patent infringement in its Internet Explorer browser. Not only was it awarded damages of $520.6 million, but it has frightened the entire browser industry. Although Microsoft is appealing, the verdict could have major implications for the way web pages are designed.
The significance of Acacia's patents transcends adult web sites. If their validity stands, they potentially cover almost all transmissions of compressed digital content, not only over the internet, but also over satellite and wireless services and pay-per-view cable TV. Consequently, any business involved in providing on-demand digital content, from content companies to software companies and network service providers, will be affected.
This is not Acacia's first success with patent enforcement. In February it sued 39 adult entertainment companies which "were previously notified of their infringing activity" but which refused to enter into licensing arrangements. Twenty-three of these companies have now obtained licenses, and the case is continuing against the remaining 16. Go Entertainment brings Acacia's tally up to 41 licenses.