Legal Issues

Legal Issues

by Mike Masnick




Altnet Continues To Threaten File Sharing Networks

from the yeah,-we've-heard-this-one-before... dept

Broadband Reports notes that Altnet, the company that is closely tied to Sharman Networks/Kazaa has been sending threatening patent infringement letters to those who run other file sharing networks. This isn't new. Over a year and a half ago, we wrote about how this was part of Altnet's strategy. They own a patent for determining the name of a file based on a hash. How this is possibly patentable is beyond many people -- but that's besides the point. Altnet has already been trying to use this patent to sue the RIAA for their efforts to track down file sharers, but now they're ramping up their efforts against actual file sharing networks. It is, clearly, a desperation play on the part of the company that is trying to stay relevant.

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