US Judge Acts Against Canadian TV Website

By Sushuma on 2000-02-15 10:04:34

(Reuters)- A federal judge imposed a preliminary injunction on iCraveTV.com last week, blocking the Canada-based Internet company from redistributing copyrighted U.S.?television programming on the World Wide Web.?But U.S.?District Judge Donald Ziegler left open the possibility that the Web site could be up and running again later this year, saying the injunction could be modified in 90 days after a review of new Internet security measures being undertaken by iCraveTV.com and its parent, TVRadioNow Corp.?Website operators are being sued in federal court by the U.S.?entertainment and professional sports establishment, which claims that iCraveTV.com has been pirating copyrighted TV shows and redistributing them in Web casts seen by viewers on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border.?iCraveTV.com, which bills itself as the world's first 24-hours-a-day free Internet TV "companion," picks up broadcasts from 17 TV stations in New York State and Ontario, including popular programs such as "Frasier" and "Ally McBeal," and re-offers them on the Internet with paid advertising.?Plaintiffs maintain that the practice violates U.S.?copyright law because the site has been accessed easily by computer users in the United States.?"The public interest was heavily in favor of the plaintiffs," Ziegler said in siding with 10 Hollywood studios, four U.S.?television networks and two professional sports leagues, which filed suit against iCraveTV.com last month.?Plaintiffs in the case include Twentieth Century Fox, Walt Disney Co., the ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox networks, the National Football League and the National Basketball Association.?The injunction essentially keeps in place restrictions that Ziegler imposed on Jan.?28 by issuing a temporary restraining order against the operation.?The Internet site has since ceased its Web casts.?More ...

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