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Business News Digital
Are Microsoft interested in Seeqpod?
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 11 May 2009
There’s speculation that Microsoft might be thinking about buying Seeqpod, the MP3 search service that has been in limbo amid rumours the company behind it is about to go under because of the cost of defending itself against copyright infringement lawsuits from EMI and Warner.
Much of the content that was accessible via Seeqpod (it’s offline at the moment) came from illegal sources, and because users could preview MP3s found by the search engine via an easy-to-use Seeqpod player the majors say the firm is guilty of contributory infringement.
But amid rumours of collapse, and as the service went offline, Seeqpod founder Kasian Franks recently told Wired that his company was about to be acquired by a big player. He told the magazine that the new buyers were big enough that they could quickly settle any outstanding litigation and get the service back online. Though even with a buyer as big as Microsoft, the labels would surely only settle if the service committed to a new version that blocked unlicensed content, which would presumably require more development and would arguably make the Seeqpod service, as it was, much less attractive to consumers.
Which is possibly why some commentators reckon any Microsoft deal would see the IT giant buy elements of Seeqpod’s technology, to incorporate it into their own search engine, but not the brand or overall service as a whole. TechCrunch’s Eric Shoenfeld has commented thus: “Seeqpod is indeed speaking with Microsoft, but not about an outright acquisition. Rather, it is trying to negotiate a piecemeal sale of its technology assets and find new jobs for its core technology team”.
