Dragon Box Copyright Lawsuit Settles Unfavorably
The Dragon Box lawsuit has, after a year, been settled. But unlike most settlements, Dragon Box agreed to have a stipulated judgment taken against them to the tune of $14.5 million, and various injunctive relief that all but shuts down the company as consumers know it today.
However, given how flagrant Dragon Box's conduct was, effectively turning their customers into web-pirates stealing streaming services, the massive settlement and unfavorable terms still seem preferable to what could have been awarded had the litigation proceeded.
Shutting Down the Pirate Ship
As the terms of the stipulated judgment provide, Dragon Box is effectively shut down and prohibited from doing what it is known for doing: providing access to premium streaming content for free. Although there seems to be a caveat to allow it to still stream content it did obtain the rights to stream, all other operations were agreed to stop within five days.
For users of the Dragon Box device, the company had vowed to pivot by providing completely legal streaming TV options. However, what that fully entails is still unknown under the settlement, as it seems the terms require Dragon Box to cease all operations.
Dragon Box was effectively offering consumers a one-time payment option for accessing "all their favorites" via their device that connected to the consumers TV and accessed the internet to find streams of the content, regardless of the legality.
Luckily for the Ninth Circuit, the stipulated judgment also includes a provision to waive all appeals, which might come back to haunt the company as it tries to move forward with legal streaming.
Related Resources:
- United States Ninth Circuit Cases (FindLaw's Cases & Codes)
- Yahoo Data Breach Settlement Denied (FindLaw's U.S. Ninth Circuit Blog)
- Oregon Sued Over Shortened School Days for Disabled Students (FindLaw's U.S. Ninth Circuit Blog)