Altnet Ires File Sharers by Seeking Licensing Fees

In yet another case of either -- take your pick -- software patents run amok or a company trying to protect its intellectual property, peer-to-peer (P2P) company Altnet has sent letters to other P2P networks seeking to make licensing agreements over what it says are infringing uses of its patented technology.

In September, Altnet sued the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) over its use of the same technology. The letters asking for royalties were sent to P2P networks including BearShare, Limewire, MashBoxx, Shareaza and StreamCast. MashBoxx, which will allow for copyright-controlled P2P file exchanges, has not yet been launched.

Hashing It Out Over Hashes

Altnet claims to hold patents related to "hashing," which attaches a unique tag, or hash, to all copies of, for instance, the same song when they are downloaded onto the network, making it much faster and easier to search.

But members of the P2P community say that the technology is nothing new.

"Most P2P networks use this technique. It is a very obvious way to verify the integrity of files, and it has been in use for decades before Altnet's patent was filed," Ian Clarke, creator of Freenet, told TechNewsWorld.

Lawrence M. Hadley, attorney for Altnet and its parent company, Brilliant Digital, claims a federal jury has already upheld the validity of the patent.

Clarke, however, disagrees. "There is a vast amount of prior art for this patent which, contrary to the Altnet's lawyer's assertions in yesterday's Washington Post article, has never had its validity confirmed in court," he said. "This patent shouldn't have been granted in the first place, and shouldn't survive if it is challenged."

Network Partners

Altnet said in the letter that it had already come to terms on a licensing agreement with Sharman Networks, owner of P2P software Kazaa, and used that agreement to bolster its claim. Altnet and Sharman, however, have been partners since 2002. The link between the two has come up in an Australian court, where the music industry is suing Sharman.

Some members of the P2P community have speculated that defending against that lawsuit is sucking dry the coffers of Sharman and Altnet, or that the patent infringement letter is just a new attempt to gain revenue.

"I suspect their goal is to extort money from other peer-to-peer developers by threatening them with litigation," Freenet's Clarke said.

On its Web site, altnet.com, the company describes itself as the creator of "products that integrate with P2P applications and Web sites to allow content owners to securely deliver digital media over Altnet's P2P network."