Streetdirectory.com will stay alive

7 April 2008
Streetdirectory.com will stay alive
By Jinny Koh and Sheralyn Tay, TODAY

SINGAPORE: They have it all mapped out.

At a meeting on Saturday after it lost its case in the High Court,
shareholders of Virtual Map (VM) decided to continue running its
website. They also decided not to refund the parties VM had fined for
unauthorised use of its maps.

These decisions came after the company's appeal against the Singapore
Land Authority (SLA) over copyright infringement was thrown out last
month.

VM managing director Firdhaus Akber said the website,
streetdirectory.com, will be up and running again this week, but he
declined to say exactly which day. And he would not comment on how
exactly VM will go about putting the maps together without falling
afoul of copyright infringement again.

At the meeting, two key topics were debated. There were the strength
of public hostility towards the company — VM had fined or threatened
legal action at about 500 businesses — and if the site is still a
worthwhile investment.

Since it was taken offline last Wednesday, more than 2,000 users have
appealed for it to be put back online, said Mr Firdhaus, who also
said that "only a small minority hates the company".

"We understand it is painful for them," he said. "If there is
anything we can do to lessen their pain, please inform them to
contact us. But we will not refund any money as the monies have gone
back into building better products and services and the running of
the site."

So far, no one has demanded that VM refund the money it collected
from its previous lawsuits, he added.

As to whether those parties are entitled to do so, copyright lawyer
Siew Kum Hong said it was a "tricky" issue that is dependant on the
terms of the settlement.

In cases such as these, the "alleged infringer" should have gotten a
warranty agreement from VM that says it is authorised to grant a
license to them to continue using the maps, said Mr Siew, who is also
a Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP).

But he pointed out that now that VM has been found guilty of
infringing the SLA's maps, VM could be found to be in breach of that
warranty because it did not have the right to grant the licence in
the first place.

As for the possibility of the SLA going after the parties who have
been using VM maps, the NMP said they can then turn to VM to
compensate them or indemnify them.

"It is legitimate for these companies that were previously sued by VM
to feel ripped off," said Mr Siew. "Even if the settlement agreement
did not specify that VM is authorised to grant these licences of use,
it is likely that this can be implied and if they wanted to, they
could go after VM."

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