Acacia Pursues Class Action Against Adult

[DVTimes]

Acacia Pursues Class Action Against Adult

NEWPORT BEACH ?Acacia Media Technologies Corporation filed papers in court this week including a motion to create a defendant class covering all porn companies that have allegedly infringed on its Digital Media Transmission (DMT) patents and whose video content can be received in the judicial Central District of California, which emcompasses most of Southern California.
According to court hahahahahahahahas obtained by XBiz, the intention of the class-action suit is to prove the validity, enforceability, and ownership of Acacia's five U.S. DMT patents. Acacia might still have to pursue each company individually for patent infringement even if the class-action suit is successful.

The purpose of creating a defendant class is so that Acacia does not have to re-litigate certain issues over and over again. The class-action status of the suit also gives Acacia the option of grouping dozens if not hundreds of porn companies into one single defense category.

Acacia claims in court hahahahahahahahas that filing lawsuits individually would create the risk of "inconsistent and varying adjudications with respect to individual members," and a waste of court time and resources.

Cybernet Ventures, parent company of Adult Check, is named as the class representative, which effectively means that Cybernet will be expected to act as the main defendant in the case.

This week's filings come on the heels of an announcement in December that Acacia planned to pursue class-action status against the porn industry. Acacia expressed at the time that it was choosing to go after online adult companies as one class due to the enormity of the industry and the procedural difficulties so many cases filings would involve.


Originally Acacia had named Global Media Resources, the parent company of Python and related sites, as the second class representative, but Global Media Resources was not mentioned in court hahahahahahahahas filed this week.

Additionally, Acacia is seeking to consolidate the 14 defendants that are currently counter-suing the patent holder, among them New Destiny Internet Group, VS Media, Adult Revenue Service, Club Jenna, and several other companies involved in the Markman Hearing proceedings currently underway in Santa Ana District Court. This would mean that for purposes of discovery, all of the parties would be treated as one entity.

Acacia's motion also set forth a timeline for a proposed case management schedule for all legal proceedings mentioned in the motion. Acacia proposes that the court hear arguments on the class action lawsuit in the beginning of July with a ruling by August. Additional dates have also been proposed including a trial date in April 2005.

Tim Umbreit of Cybernet Ventures was not available to speak with XBiz at the time of this posting.

http://www.xbiz.com/news_piece.php?id=2984

[doober]

absolutely

[Mr.Fiction]

Bullshit.

They have to fight every single company in court. That's the way the American system works.

[CDSmith]

Asking for special treatment isn't the same as getting it. I will be surprised if they are granted this request.



Again, bravo to all the companies and individuals with enough guts to fight this fight. Your determination is appreciated by many.

[Gemini]

They're trying to stretch things out as well.

[mardigras]

Perhaps those of us with video not adult on our site should counter-sue Acacia on the grounds of discrimination

[Scootermuze]

If they are permitted to go the class action route, and lose, then all companies named in the class action walk away with a smile..

[attention_whore]

As much as ACACIA sucks ass, those assholes at Cybernet Ventures suck ass even more. And as much as I'd hate to see ACACIA win, I would love to see Cybernet Ventures get their thieving asses handed to them! Yes they are thieves, they stole my, and many other webmasters rebills. No this is not a defamatory statement. It's the plain truth! Thieves, thieves, thieves!

[baddog]

Originally posted by Mr.Fiction
Bullshit.

They have to fight every single company in court. That's the way the American system works.

I hate to disagree with you (not really) but they will probably be granted their Motion.

I am surprised they did not apply for it earlier, but I never mentioned it as I did not want to give them any brilliant ideas.

[baddog]

Originally posted by mardigras
Perhaps those of us with video not adult on our site should counter-sue Acacia on the grounds of discrimination

Where are the :rolleyes: smilies when you need them?

[AlienQ - BANNED FOR LIFE]

Originally posted by Scootermuze
If they are permitted to go the class action route, and lose, then all companies named in the class action walk away with a smile..

And a counter suit of extortion to boot

ACACIA won't win.

Bottom line...

[Webby]

Acacia Pursues Class Action Against Adult

They not gone bust yet sitting on their asses thinking up ways to create some court action??

I got an invite of em - sue me! There is nada chance of any productive outcome.... and do I give a shit? Nope!

[reynold]

That day will definitely make waves!

[tony286]

Actually if they got it could be a good thing, maybe it would wake a bunch of webmasters the fuck up and they would start giving resources to the fight. Instead of sitting and hoping.

[jojojo]

so what does this all mean now... what is the bottom line?

[Mr.Fiction]

Originally posted by baddog
I hate to disagree with you (not really) but they will probably be granted their Motion.

I am surprised they did not apply for it earlier, but I never mentioned it as I did not want to give them any brilliant ideas.

It makes no sense legally, because they would be forcing you into a class that you don't want to be in.

What if the head of your class drops the ball, intentionally loses, or pursues a different defense than the one you wanted to pursue?

Post a link to another patent case like this where this type of request has been granted and defendants weren't allowed to opt out of the class.

[SleazyDream]

The whole tactic smells like a setup to be honest, why would any one company be CHOSEN above others to represent the industry as a whole without the industry as a whole having any input into which company is chosen unless (and this is just my humble opinion) that specific company was chosen because of some unwritten under the table deal with acacia.

[Mr.Fiction]

Originally posted by SleazyDream
The whole tactic smells like a setup to be honest, why would any one company be CHOSEN above others to represent the industry as a whole without the industry as a whole having any input into which company is chosen unless (and this is just my humble opinion) that specific company was chosen because of some unwritten under the table deal with acacia.

Exactly. Even if the company doesn't have a deal with Acacia, why would Acacia be allowed to pick the company that represents everyone else?

If you could pick the company to represent an entire industry, you would always pick the company you think you can beat.

Can anyone (Fight The Patent?) post a link to a patent case where this type of request was granted and companies couldn't opt out?

[Strife]

Originally posted by jojojo
so what does this all mean now... what is the bottom line?

[Nysus]

How can they segregrate adult violations from non-adult? I hope someone slaps them silly, soon, this is getting old.

Cheers,
Matt

[slapass]

Originally posted by Mr.Fiction
Exactly. Even if the company doesn't have a deal with Acacia, why would Acacia be allowed to pick the company that represents everyone else?

If you could pick the company to represent an entire industry, you would always pick the company you think you can beat.

Can anyone (Fight The Patent?) post a link to a patent case where this type of request was granted and companies couldn't opt out?

as a point of law you can always opt out, I thought. They cannot force you to join.

[baddog]

Originally posted by Mr.Fiction
It makes no sense legally, because they would be forcing you into a class that you don't want to be in.

What if the head of your class drops the ball, intentionally loses, or pursues a different defense than the one you wanted to pursue?

Post a link to another patent case like this where this type of request has been granted and defendants weren't allowed to opt out of the class.

If I understand correctly, they are using the class action just to verify their right to enforce the patent. Individuals would be hit with the patent violations on a case by case basis.

They are just trying to prove the validity of their claim once, can't say that I blame them.

[baddog]

Originally posted by SleazyDream
The whole tactic smells like a setup to be honest, why would any one company be CHOSEN above others to represent the industry as a whole without the industry as a whole having any input into which company is chosen unless (and this is just my humble opinion) that specific company was chosen because of some unwritten under the table deal with acacia.

Deep pockets would be my guess, and that is the purpose of class action. I am sure that Cybernet Ventures would prefer if they picked on someone else, but apparently they have the deepest pockets of those that have refused to settle.

However, you do bring up a valid point, I would not trust CV as far as I can throw them, so this could get interesting. Perhaps we will have to start rooting for them instead of issuing death threats.

[baddog]

Originally posted by Mr.Fiction


If you could pick the company to represent an entire industry, you would always pick the company you think you can beat.

If I was confident in my case, I would pick the company that I thought could afford to pay the settlement I was planning on getting.