NBA Sues America Online For Use of Real-Time Data
May 10, 2011
NEW YORK -- The National Basketball Association filed suit against America Online Inc.. Wednesday, alleging that the on-line service is delivering real-time information about NBA games without the league's permission. The suit, filed Wednesday morning in federal court in Manhattan, alleges that AOL has misappropriated NBA property by providing an AOL site containing continually updated scores and statistics of NBA games in progress. Attorneys for AOL could not be reached for comment. The case is related to a suit the NBA filed earlier this year against Sports Team Analysis and Tracking Systems Inc., known as Stats Inc., which provides the data to AOL and is also a defendant in the latest suit. In the earlier suit, a judge sided with the NBA last month, granting the league a permanent injunction against the sale of a Motorola Inc. hand-held pager that featured the same Stats Inc. information on NBA games. Stats Inc. and Motorola have said they plan to appeal that ruling. AOL was not a defendant in that suit, and Motorola is not a defendant in the latest suit. An attorney for Stats Inc. said he was unaware of the latest suit and declined to comment. The NBA is seeking a permanent injunction against AOL and Stats Inc. in the latest suit, plus unspecified damages.
