Racketeering Suit Filed Against Skype Founders

[mandy]

...in documents filed in the U.S. District Court's CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA (Western Division - Los Angeles) CIVIL DOCKET FOR CASE #: 2:06-cv-00391-FMC-E that back on January 20th StreamCast Networks, best known for their Peer to Peer technology, called Morpheus, filed a RICO suit against Skype Technologies SA, Niklas Zennstrom, Janus Friis, BlueMoon OU (the company that reportedly did a lot of the development work on Skype) alleging RICO violations. RICO stands for the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

full article: http://andyabramson.blogs.com/voipwatch/...strom.html

...the plaintiffs charge the defendents with 11 causes of action and have asked for both a TRO (temporary restraining order) and relief by the courts....

I also won't begin to editorialize or speculate on the ramifications or reprecussions this can have on the Skype entity now owned by eBay, or what the potential fallout could be on the shareholders, including those who may already have profited, as this needs a lawyer's input, so ask one.

full article: http://andyabramson.blogs.com/voipwatch/...cast_.html

At the core of the complaint is the FastTrack P2P technology, which went from Kazaa to Sharman and eventually ending up in Skype. StreamCast claims that it had the first dibs on this technology, which they say is part of Skype. Alec Saunders, calls the allegations stunning, and vocalizes the question that has been echoing in my mind: “The whole suit begs the question ‘How much, and how carefully, did EBay do their due diligence?’”

full article: http://gigaom.com/2006/03/26/skype-streamcast-take-two/

[rose]

Tech Dirt and Ars Technica weighing in http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20060327/0256249.shtml http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060327-6465.html

[mandy]

The amount Skype is being sued for has been disclosed: $4.1 billion. 

The racketeering suit, combined with the commodization of the VoIP industry, may make eBay's decision to pay $2.6-$4.1 billion to acquire Skype one of its most costly errors.

Internet phone service provider Skype Technologies said it plans to defend itself against explosive allegations that its technology is actually owned by another company, Streamcast Networks.

Skype, owned by eBay, of San Jose, Calif., has been accused of creating a secret shell firm in order to steal away some peer-to-peer technology developed by Streamcast, then use it to build the Skype service, according to a lawsuit Streamcast filed in January in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

The complaint seeks $4.1 billion in damages, and demands that Skype stop using the Streamcast features...

full article: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1944055,00.asp

[mandy]

Update: racketeering suit against Skype amended to include eBay as a defendant:

StreamCast Networks, the creators of the Morpheus file-sharing software, is alleging in a lawsuit that auction house eBay is profiting from peer-to-peer technology that rightfully belongs to it

Monday's filing is an amendment of a suit first filed in January. The complaint now adds eBay to the 21 companies previously named as defendants and requests that the court force Skype, acquired by eBay last October, to halt sales of VoIP products. StreamCast is also asking for more than $4 billion in damages.

A spokeswoman for eBay declined to comment on the lawsuit.

StreamCast has accused Zennstrom and Friis of racketeering and has added new claims, accusing all defendants--other than eBay--of antitrust violations...

full article: http://news.com.com/Morpheus+makers+file...75933.html

[xppman]

ebay involved in RICO? Say it isn't so.

I love it.

[mandy]

Update:

One of the longest running feuds in the P2P business has taken a new turn after a judge dismissed a racketeering case brought by Streamcast Networks against Skype...

A Federal Judge in Los Angeles has decreed that Streamcast failed to prove its case and dismissed all claims against Skype and the other defendents...

Nevertheless, Streamcast has vowed to continue its ligitation...

full article: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/24/...kype_rico/