Did Microsoft Try To Kill A Tiny Internet Video Company?

from the let's-go-to-the-videotape... dept

Salon is running a (at least) two part article about the saga of a company named Burst.com that is suing Microsoft for putting them out of business. The story seems stretched out (I don't see why it needs to be two parts - cutting out the fluff would shrink the story considerably), but the basic story is that Burst.com created a different type of online video technology called "bursting" instead of "streaming". For a variety of reasons, it had some problems creating a media player of their own, and decided instead to focus on making their technology be a plugin with other media players like Microsoft's player. Just before U2 was to broadcast an online concert using the technology Microsoft "upgraded" their media player in such a way that Burst's technology no longer worked. Burst says it was a deliberate move to destroy them. Some others think that Burst is just taking aim at the company with the biggest pockets in filing their sour grapes lawsuit.

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