The Steep $75 Million Skype Lawsuit Against eBay
Meghan Young — September 21, 2009 — Pop Culture
References: fastcompany & fastcompany
One communication software company is sure to get a big payday, that is, if the Skype lawsuit against eBay gains any grounds. A $75 million payday to be exact. Actually, that’s not even correct. Skype is suing eBay $75 million each day eBay uses a particular code.
Boys and girls, let this be a moral lesson: thieving is bad. Especially, it appears, if you are an intellectual thief. The Skype lawsuit against eBay involves “a piece of programming code they allege the auction site is using without permission.”
According to Chris Dannen, each time the copyright infringement occurs, the maximum amount of damages each day is $150,000. “But,” he elaborates, “that’s per violation—and according to the founders’ lawyers, each eBay user that access that piece of code counts as one single violation. Crunch the numbers, and the Skype founders are assuming that hundreds of people are using the lifted code per day; hence the $75 million figure.” Wowser. I predict the Skype lawsuit agasint eBay is going to be very, very interesting.
Boys and girls, let this be a moral lesson: thieving is bad. Especially, it appears, if you are an intellectual thief. The Skype lawsuit against eBay involves “a piece of programming code they allege the auction site is using without permission.”
According to Chris Dannen, each time the copyright infringement occurs, the maximum amount of damages each day is $150,000. “But,” he elaborates, “that’s per violation—and according to the founders’ lawyers, each eBay user that access that piece of code counts as one single violation. Crunch the numbers, and the Skype founders are assuming that hundreds of people are using the lifted code per day; hence the $75 million figure.” Wowser. I predict the Skype lawsuit agasint eBay is going to be very, very interesting.
Trend Themes
1. Lawsuit Against Ebay - The trend of communication software companies suing eBay for copyright infringement presents disruptive innovation opportunities in the legal tech industry.
2. Intellectual Property Disputes - The trend of intellectual property disputes highlights the need for innovative solutions in the field of copyright law and infringement detection.
3. Monetizing Proprietary Code - The trend of seeking monetary compensation for unauthorized use of proprietary code opens up disruptive innovation opportunities in the software licensing industry.
Industry Implications
1. Legal Tech - The legal tech industry can develop innovative tools and platforms to assist communication software companies in their legal battles against online platforms like eBay.
2. Copyright Law - The field of copyright law can benefit from disruptive innovations in intellectual property protection and enforcement.
3. Software Licensing - The software licensing industry can explore new business models and technologies to help organizations monetize and protect their proprietary code.
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