Andre Yoskowitz
20 May 2011 22:27
In April, the MPAA surprised no one by filing a copyright infringement suit against streaming site Zediva, claiming the site does not have proper licenses from the studios.
Zediva launched in January and has become very popular because it streams new releases and does not have delay windows like Netflix and Redbox do for physical discs.
The company "rents" users a DVD player and DVD and allows them to control it via online streaming, for the cheap price of $2.
Today, Zediva has countersued the MPAA whilst demanding a judge sanction.
Zediva has claimed it does not need licenses because it is just "like" a brick-and-mortar rental company. When a customer rents a DVD, it takes it out of circulation, and does not create any digital copies.
Reads the countersuit (via Wired):
The only difference between watching a rented DVD on the DVD player in one’s living room and watching a rented DVD using Zediva is that rather than connecting to the DVD player with a short cable, Zediva lets users connect to the DVD player over the internet.