StreamCast Networks, owner of the Morpheus peer-to-peer (P2P) software, is suing
eBay and 21 others for allegedly infringing on its rights among other
claims.
Morpheus’ master is seeking a worldwide injunction on the marketing and sale
of Skype products and services in addition to billions of dollars in
unspecified damages.
The suit is an extension of the one it filed in March for $4.1 billion. In that suit, eBay
was not named as a defendant.
StreamCast is alleging that Skype’s founders, “illegally and secretly
transferred away the rights to the FastTrack technology.”
Until 2002,
FastTrack was the underlying network on which Morpheus ran. FastTrack was also
used by the Kazaa P2P network, which was founded by Niklas Zennstrom who also
founded Skype. Skype uses the FastTrack network to help facilitate VoIP
calls.
EBay bought Skype for $2.6 billion in September. The amended lawsuit brings
eBay into the fold.
“The sale of Skype to eBay was made possible through a scheme by many of the
defendants to misappropriate the FastTrack peer-to-peer technology that
rightfully belongs to StreamCast,” outside Counsel Dan Woods of the global
law firm White & Case, said in a statement.
“We’ve now added eBay as a
defendant to this lawsuit.”