Streamcast sues Skype/eBay for $4bn

.... which can be trebled to $12bn, plus sundries

[trillianjedi]

StreamCast has just expanded its lawsuit against the firms to include eBay, Skype's new owner. With the new addition, the stakes in the case are substantially higher—StreamCast is now asking for US$4 billion in actual damages, US$12 billion in treble damages, along with various and sundry other damages and fines.

The complaint itself has more strange plot twists than a soap opera, but it remains to be seen whether the case is anything more than an attempted money grab now that Skype has made it big.

[arstechnica.com...]

About "Treble Damages":-

[law.cornell.edu...]

That could sting...

[lazerzubb]

Well i take it when you can't do marketing yourself, it's easier to try and get someone else to do it for you.... reminds me of the company who tried to sue companies for using frames... and hyperlinks...

[arbitrary]

Why do people automatically buy into the notion that this is a 'money grab' without knowing all the facts?

I am sure glad we have a legal system in place.

[kaled]

My instinct on this one is that it could be legit. However, the sums of money that are being talked about (and have changed hands) are just crazy.

Kaled.

[walkman]

>> Why do people automatically buy into the notion that this is a 'money grab' without knowing all the facts?

$12 billion might give us a hint ;)

[arbitrary]

$12 billion might give us a hint ;)

Okay, so you are saying that the more you sue for, the less legitimate is your claim.

[markus007]

From all the postings around the net it seems they have a history of sueing people for no reason.

[thoughton]

The amended court filing details a labyrinthine story of alleged greed, backstabbing, and conspiracy that culminated in Morpheus being mysteriously booted from the FastTrack network in 2002, a move that StreamCast says cost it millions of customers.

So now FastTrack users are customers? Customers?!? And all this time I thought they were just kids downloading pirated MP3s.

[Edge]

The way I understand the issue, is that Morpheus, the (one of) original company name, failed to pay thier license fees to a music network called Fasttrack. They where booted from the shorted network for not paying.

So now, years later, the companies which maintained thier fees and stayed on that network, are successfull and they are p#$%# about it, and are sueing.

Could be more complicated than this, however I don't think so. This is roughly analogous to your competitor not paying thier thier hosting fees, and you becoming insanely succesfull, then the company which buys you gets into a law suit over it.