Internet post vexes MobiTV: HowardForums.com posts instructions to access TV service free

MobiTV Inc. claimed it is not trying to shut down a popular Web site that carried instructions on how to access its video service free.
Howardforums.com, a forum for cellphone enthusiasts that claims nearly 800,000 users, drew attention after a user posted instructions that grant Sprint Nextel Corp. subscribers free access to MobiTV’s channels via openly accessible URLs. Sprint Nextel users can access the content by typing the URLs provided on Howardforums.com into their phones, and are able to view MobiTV content from Fox News, MSNBC and other channels without paying the $10 monthly fee.
MobiTV claimed the links “constitute violation and infringement of (its) intellectual property rights, including, without limitation, its copyright, trademark and trade secret rights.” When Howardforums.com declined to remove the post, MobiTV sent a letter to Howardforums.com’s server host Global Net Access L.L.C. asking that the site be shut down.
The wireless video company said in a public statement that it “took standard legal steps to request that the information which facilitates the unauthorized access to our paid, subscription service be removed, but our intent was only to remove the specific information and NOT to interrupt or shutdown (sic) the valuable service the entire site provides to mobile users around the world.”
That statement was followed Friday afternoon by a post from the HowardForum.com site administrator, claiming he’d just spoken with MobiTV President Paul Scanlan and that presumably put the issue to rest.
“(O)ur intention was never to bring your entire sight (sic) down or to ‘censor’ the Internet like we’re being accused,” Scanlan is quoted as saying. “Please know that our first priority is always to fix any security issues with our system and we’re doing that. Additionally, we also have a responsibility to our content and carrier partners to reduce the impact of any breaches to the system once they occur and that was really the basis for the correspondence you had with our legal team. I look forward to continuing to find interesting and vibrant insights from HowardForums.”