"" From: David.Colter@warnerbros.com
Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2002 12:51 AM
To: John.calkins@warnerbros.com
Cc: CHuck.dages@warnerbros.com; Alan.Bell@warnerbros.com
Subject: iViewit
" John,
In all the review we have done with iVieiwit it seems to boil down to the status of the patentsand their inherent value. At that point it is a risk-reward evaluation -- without awarded patents it is difficult to completely assess the value.
I would suggest that we consider one other perspective...
Prior to iViewit (approx Feb 2000) the video we (WB Online) delivered on the web was QCIF (160x120) or smaller and was below full frame rate.
At the time of our first meeting we also identified On2 along with ivieiwit as two solid players who could deliver full screen full frame rate web video.
All who saw it were impressed.
Greg and I visited ivieiwit in August and reported back that they had filed patents on scaling techniques that hinged upon a visual 'trick' which allowed the human eye to accept 320x240 video scaled to 640x480 at 30 fps as close to VHS quality.
We checked with Ken Rubenstein and others who provided some solid support for iViewit, and Chris Cookson asked Greg and I to continue to work with ivieiwit in an R&D capacity.
In the fall of 2000 iviewit also met with a number of folks at WB Online (in September and October) and demonstrated their process and techniques to Sam Smith, Houston, Joe Annino and others. Sam contacted ivieiwit a number of times and requested the patents, along with specifics of the ivieiwit process to evaluate what they were doing.
I was not part of these meetings, but was aware they had occured, as Jack Scanlon kept me up to date.
When I sat down with Morgan and Houston in March 2001 to see what technology they were using to encode video, it was clear that they were using some of the techniques that would overlap with iviewit's filed process patents (still pending), but it is not clear that these were all learned from iviewit -- we may wish to explore this a little.
This meeting was to determine what equipment we would get for our lab at 611 Brand. This same information was also provided to ivieiwit by Morgan as they were establishing the company as an outsourcing facility for encoding our content.
I am aware of several meeting held between ivieiwit and WB Online to share information of techniques and process, and was invited to a few of them.
We all signed ivieiwit's confidentiality agreement.
So to the other perspective....
We have an opportunity to establish a license with ivieiwit for a modest fee at this time, and establish a MFN.
In good faith we signed the confidentiality agreement, iviewit revealed their processes and techniques, and we now use those techniques in encoding.
As we have discussed on a few occasions, these techniques now appear in the public domain to some extent in documentation for Real Producer, WMP Developer Guides, Media Cleaner
Pro, etc, but they were not available in 2000.
I would not suggest we learned the techniques completely from iviewit (I actually do not know the answer), but a modest licensing fee may be appropriate and honorable considering our good faith relationship in signing the confidentiality doc.
If we choose to pass at this time the risk is primarily from iviewit's main investor, Crossbow Ventures, gaining control of the IP and Approaching WB later for a License-- - I do not believe they will be as friendly considering their dealings with ivieiwit and it's employees since Feb of 2001. It is estimated that the patents will be completed in 8-12 months.
As you are all aware I have a personal relationship with Eliot Bernstein, the founder of iviewit, and as a result, I left the evaluations and decisions to Greg, and others, and only assisted iviewit to get to the correct people in WB and AOLTW.
I wanted to add this perspective as we consider if there is an option to pursue with iviewit -- they are facing continued financial pressure right now.
There are many other threads to our interaction with iViewit and I would be happy to discuss.
I wanted to add this perspective as we consider if there is an option to pursue with iviewit -- they are facing continued financial pressure right now.
There are many other threads to our interaction with iViewit and I would be happy to discuss.
Thanx,
David "
Source of Warner Bros. Post
Source of Warner Bros. Post
http://www.iviewit.tv/CompanyDocs/colter%20letter%20to%20Calkins.pdf
Original eMails, Sources, and ALL Proof is Available for HONEST Dept. of Justice Investigators, SEC Investigators, FBI Investigators or anyone wanting to do write by the Warner Bros., Time Warner Inc., and AOL Shareholders and Investors.
Is David Colter or John Calkins NOW Liable to Disclose this information to WB and AOLTW Shareholders? Why is Time Warner Inc., Warner Bros., AOL above the Law? These Are Signed Contracts, Signed Licensing Agreements that were Never Honored.
For More on the involvement of Warner Bros., Time Warner Inc., and AOL in the Stolen iViewit Technology Check Out the Links Below
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