Porn unplugged by streaming patent holder

A holding company that has a stack of streaming media patents briefly shut down a network of pornographic websites in a move which many provider of streamed video will see as an ominous one.

The company, Acacia Research, on Friday said it had used a court injunction to persuade a web hosting provider to unplug the Go Entertainment network of 42 "adult entertainment" sites.

Acacia said Monday that the network had signed a patent licensing agreement and that the sites were back in operation by Saturday night.

The Go Entertainment licence is the 41st for Acacia, which has assembled what many call a streaming media patent portfolio that is easier licensed than fought in court. The patents collectively cover the ubiquitous system of compressing and transferring streaming media files over the internet - and perhaps over other networks such as cable as well.

Acacia claims to be in licence negotiations with some of the web's largest mainstream content providers, in addition to a sizable stable of porn sites, but the company would not disclose their names.

Mainstream sites that have already bowed before the Acacia patent include Radio Free Virgin, the online music division of Virgin Megastores.

Go Entertainment did not respond to an interview request.

Paul Festa writes for News.com