Kaleidescape headed back to court

Kaleidescape headed back to court

On August 12th, the Sixth Court of Appeal of the State of California ordered the DVD CCA v. Kaleidescape, Inc. lawsuit back to the Superior Court for further proceedings.

For five years, Kaleidescape has been entangled in legal battles with the DVD encryption licensing body, the DVD CCA, over the terms of the contract between both parties. It is the view of Kaleidescape that they have fulfilled their obligations under the contract, and the courts have agreed with them so far. One specific point of contention is a document called the “General Specifications” which DVD CCA provided to Kaleidescape after their contract was in effect. The DVD CCA viewed this document as part of the contract. Every court disagreed, and found Kaleidescape to be within the original contract. The Sixth Court of Appeal decided in the DVD CCA’s favor and found the General Specifications to be a part of the contract.

Michael Malcolm, the CEO of Kaleidescape, said of the decision, “We are surprised and disappointed by the Court of Appeal’s decision and by their rejection of existing California contract law.”

Kaleidescape

In previous court proceedings, Kaleidescape argued that even if the General Specifications were a part of the contract that they had fulfilled these requirements as well. The new round of proceedings should decide this point.

It should be noted that no other company has a contract to legally store DVDs on their hard drive units, so these lawsuits are singular in that they’re a contract dispute. Other lawsuits brought by DVD CCA (including the one against Real Media) are lawsuits filed under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that the defendants are breaking the law. Because Kaleidescape has obtained a contract with DVD CCA, their Kaleidescape Systems are licensed and legal.

The new proceedings may take a couple years to take place, and in the mean time Kaleidescape is appealing to the California Supreme Court to review the Court of Appeal’s decision. If the California Supreme Court finds in favor of Kaleidescape, their legal worries may come to an end unless the federal court system takes on a California state contract dispute.

In other Kaleidescape news, Michael Malcolm affirms, “The Blue-Laser Player is still on schedule for release in 2009.” To clarify this statement, the player is called “Blue-Laser” because they have not joined the Blu-ray Disc Association to legally use the Blu-ray name and logo.

About Steven Kippel

Steven Kippel has worked as a systems designer for a leading high-end audio/video custom integrator in Southern California since 2003. He is responsible for researching new technologies and integrating them into existing systems and new construction projects. He has designed several high-profile systems for discriminating clients on the cutting-edge of technology. When he is not hard at work, Steven is spending time with his wife, playing with his band or promoting concerts and bands in the Inland Empire. His favorite bands include The Cure, U2, Eisley, Living Sacrifice and DragonForce.

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