James Delahunty
19 Sep 2005 20:50
Grokster Ltd. is reportedly in talks with Mashboxx over the possibility of Mashboxx acquiring the company. The Wall Street Journal cited unnamed sources for the report. Grokster is currently involved in a copyright infringement lawsuit mess after the June ruling by the Supreme Court that ruled under some circumstances, owners and operators of P2P services could be held liable for copyright infringements by third parties.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Mashboxx would most likely work out a revenue-sharing arrangement with Grokster. However, before any deal could be met between the two companies, the lawsuits pending against Grokster by record labels would have to be dropped or settled the sources said. Mashboxx is a new P2P service that will offer legal music downloads and possibly the sharing of music not subject to copyright restrictions.
Mashboxx interestingly is headed by format Grokster president Wayne Rosso. Mashboxx has a deal with Shawn Fanning's SnoCap to facilitate authorized content distribution.
Source:
MontereyHerald.com