AOL has now joined Via and Napster in the "I'm being sued" club.
Appearently, they decided to use some software that Nullsoft, who AOL ownes, has
the rights to use, but AOL does not.
Judge A. Howard Matz in the Los Angeles District Court yesterday ordered AOL to stop shipping AOL 6.0 while it continues to include AOL Media Player. Look at the software's initials and you'll see why: Media Player is essentially a modern version of WinAMP, developed after AOL bought Nullsoft. |
PlayMedia originally licensed Nullsoft its AMP MP3 code and granted the WinAMP maker the
right to sub-license AMP. That right, it insists, does not convey on AOL a right
to use AMP in its own online access software, even if it did buy Nullsoft. And,
to prove its point, PlayMedia sued AOL for copyright infringement last April.
Judge Matz' ruling grants PlayMedia a preliminary injunction against AOL
until the company's case against the media giant has been judged in court. The
ruling prevents AOL from shipping AOL 6.0 - either directly or through
third-parties - while it contains AMP code, though it is permitted to ship the
MP3 decoded in WinAMP. Equally, it has to block any AOL 6.0 user whose installed
version of the software contains AMP - though said users are allowed access to
the AOL service in order for the company to remove the offending code through
its Live Update mechanism.
Oh well, so AOL can't ship AOL 6.0 any more, and even AOL 7.0 is at threat. Also, AOL is not even suppost to enable internet to you until you rid your computer of their mistake, maybe
time to find a better ISP...
Source: The Register
