MP3 suit could affect hundreds of firms

mimo2005 · 01-30-2007, 10:54 AM

SAN DIEGO -- Alcatel-Lucent told a jury it is owed almost $2 billion for Microsoft Corp.'s use of the standard technology for playing music and audio files on a computer, a dispute that may affect hundreds of companies that rely on MP3.

Microsoft, the world's biggest software maker, countered in federal court in San Diego that Alcatel-Lucent is trying to hold up every company that uses the MP3 standard and is demanding royalties that are already paid to another company.

Alcatel-Lucent is targeting Microsoft's Windows Media Player, including the version used in Microsoft's Vista operating system going on sale today . A three-week jury trial in the patent-infringement fight started yesterday .

Microsoft "just took what they wanted, they didn't care about the rules and they sold millions and millions of copies," John Desmarais, Alcatel-Lucent's lawyer, told the jury in opening statements.

A win for Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent might clear the way for legal actions against hundreds of companies relying on MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 technology, commonly called MP3, according to Microsoft.

"We wanted our day in court, not only for us, not only for our customers, but for MP3," Microsoft lawyer John Gartman told the jury.

Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash. , says it uses a different technology from that covered by one patent and that the second relates to innovations used with the owner's permission. It also claims Lucent's patents are invalid.

Microsoft licenses a patent from German researcher Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS through Thomson SA, a French provider of satellite decoders and post-production services for movies. Fraunhofer helped develop the patented MP3 audio-compression technology with Bell Labs, a predecessor company to Lucent Technologies Inc., which Alcatel SA acquired last year.

US District Judge Rudi Brewster and lawyers for the two sides yesterday selected a nine-member jury to hear the case. Testimony and final arguments are set to last three weeks.

Among hundreds of licensees of Fraunhofer's innovations are Microsoft rival Apple Inc., computer makers Hewlett-Packard Co. and Toshiba Corp., chip maker Intel Corp., electronics maker Bang & Olufsen, media-playing software maker RealNetworks Inc., and the Internet search engine Yahoo Inc.

http://www.boston.com/business/techn...reds_of_firms/

**carsey** · 01-30-2007, 11:02 AM

Looks like M$ have been stealing things again and taking credit for them. A very typical M$. Very typical. Maybe one day they will learn that stealing is a crime and stop and make their own products. Which they struggle with. They deserve to be put out of business and sued for that $2billion that guy took them to court for. I can only hope he wins.

ebackhus · 01-30-2007, 11:09 AM

Don't forget, it's not just MS that's being targeted by this crap.

**Fr4665** · 01-31-2007, 03:21 AM

correct eback

macintosh would be included aswell as their quicktime player and other music players can play mp3's swell and use the codecs ;) its basically anything that plays mp3's ... thats alot of freaking companies

sinclair_tm · 01-31-2007, 10:30 PM

i have to side with ms on this one, as i know that they, and apple, have paid the dues for using the mp3 format, to the original patent of the mp3. like ms's lawyer said, i think this company that bought the one that held part of the patent is just trying to earn a buck. i hope the jury sees through this one, and goes with ms.

**RZA** · 02-01-2007, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sinclair_tm

i have to side with ms on this one, as i know that they, and apple, have paid the dues for using the mp3 format, to the original patent of the mp3. like ms's lawyer said, i think this company that bought the one that held part of the patent is just trying to earn a buck. i hope the jury sees through this one, and goes with ms.

agreed

01-30-2007, 10:54 AM	#1 (permalink)
mimo2005 Manager, The Relaxation Room/Analyst, Security Team Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 11,142 OS: xp	MP3 suit could affect hundreds of firms SAN DIEGO -- Alcatel-Lucent told a jury it is owed almost $2 billion for Microsoft Corp.'s use of the standard technology for playing music and audio files on a computer, a dispute that may affect hundreds of companies that rely on MP3. Microsoft, the world's biggest software maker, countered in federal court in San Diego that Alcatel-Lucent is trying to hold up every company that uses the MP3 standard and is demanding royalties that are already paid to another company. Alcatel-Lucent is targeting Microsoft's Windows Media Player, including the version used in Microsoft's Vista operating system going on sale today . A three-week jury trial in the patent-infringement fight started yesterday . Microsoft "just took what they wanted, they didn't care about the rules and they sold millions and millions of copies," John Desmarais, Alcatel-Lucent's lawyer, told the jury in opening statements. A win for Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent might clear the way for legal actions against hundreds of companies relying on MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 technology, commonly called MP3, according to Microsoft. "We wanted our day in court, not only for us, not only for our customers, but for MP3," Microsoft lawyer John Gartman told the jury. Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash. , says it uses a different technology from that covered by one patent and that the second relates to innovations used with the owner's permission. It also claims Lucent's patents are invalid. Microsoft licenses a patent from German researcher Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS through Thomson SA, a French provider of satellite decoders and post-production services for movies. Fraunhofer helped develop the patented MP3 audio-compression technology with Bell Labs, a predecessor company to Lucent Technologies Inc., which Alcatel SA acquired last year. US District Judge Rudi Brewster and lawyers for the two sides yesterday selected a nine-member jury to hear the case. Testimony and final arguments are set to last three weeks. Among hundreds of licensees of Fraunhofer's innovations are Microsoft rival Apple Inc., computer makers Hewlett-Packard Co. and Toshiba Corp., chip maker Intel Corp., electronics maker Bang & Olufsen, media-playing software maker RealNetworks Inc., and the Internet search engine Yahoo Inc. http://www.boston.com/business/techn...reds_of_firms/ __________________ TSF has outgrown its server, again. Please help "Gutta cavat lapidem, non vi sed saepe cadendo"

01-30-2007, 11:02 AM	#2 (permalink)
carsey Moderator, TSF Articles Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Hunwick, Co. Durham England Posts: 10,678 OS: XP Pro SP3 My System	Looks like M$ have been stealing things again and taking credit for them. A very typical M$. Very typical. Maybe one day they will learn that stealing is a crime and stop and make their own products. Which they struggle with. They deserve to be put out of business and sued for that $2billion that guy took them to court for. I can only hope he wins. __________________ Submit New Articles Here

01-30-2007, 11:09 AM	#3 (permalink)
ebackhus Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 14,243 OS: WinXP Pro SP3/Windows 7 RTM My System Blog Entries: 28	Don't forget, it's not just MS that's being targeted by this crap. __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.

01-31-2007, 03:21 AM	#4 (permalink)
Fr4665 aka mr.fraggs Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: USA or Germany Posts: 2,965 OS: Win XP,Vista,Android My System	correct eback macintosh would be included aswell as their quicktime player and other music players can play mp3's swell and use the codecs ;) its basically anything that plays mp3's ... thats alot of freaking companies __________________ I don't subscribe to threads please PM me if i miss a reply. ------- Everest SensorView Pro DriverCleaner how to fix your game