http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,0-35595,00.html?st.ne.lh..niTitle: CNET News.com - Microsoft sued over digital rights software
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Microsoft sued over digital rights software
By Bloomberg News
Special to CNET News.com
April 23, 1999, 3:30 p.m. PTSAN DIEGO--Microsoft was sued by a tiny rival that says the world's No. 1 software maker is infringing on its patented program for controlling access to computerized information sold via the Internet.
MediaDNA, a small start-up software firm, contends in a suit filed in federal court in San Diego that Microsoft is selling "digital rights management software" that copies MediaDNA's technology for helping creators of books, films, music, and video games receive royalties when their works are sold over the Web.
QUOTE SNAPSHOT April 23, 1999, 1:01 p.m. PT Microsoft Corp. MSFT 86.0000 +1.0625 +1.25% > more from CNET Investor Quotes delayed 20+ minutes The encryption software helps limit access to digital data to cut down on intellectual property piracy, MediaDNA officials said in papers filed with their 1996 patent application for the software. Bootleg copies of books, songs and films are common on the largely unregulated Internet.
"MediaDNA has been, and will continue to be, greatly and irreparably damaged" by Microsoft's sale of the infringing software, lawyers for the La Jolla, California-based company alleged.
Microsoft officials said their lawyers were reviewing the suit, declining further comment. The Redmond, Washington-based software giant, which reported $14.4 billion in sales in 1998, is a frequent target of such patent suits.
Closely held MediaDNA, founded in 1997, is negotiating with several companies interested in its software to make e-commerce transactions more secure, said Frederick Berretta, one of the company's lawyers.
Copyright 1999, Bloomberg L.P. All Rights Reserved.
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• Four depositions set in Microsoft case April 22, 1999
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