iCraveTV
iCraveTV was a Canadian website, which operated from 1999 to 2000. The site offered streaming Internet broadcasts of the conventional television stations, both Canadian and American, that were available as over-the-air signals in Toronto.
The site, launched by William Craig, was intensely controversial during its short lifespan, raising significant issues about the interpretation of copyright law. Craig viewed the service as essentially equivalent to a cable television distributor, while many of the television stations whose signals were being distributed viewed the site's actions as analogous to the RIAA's copyright infringement case against Napster.
In February 2000, a U.S. court issued a preliminary injunction against iCraveTV in Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp v. iCraveTV enjoining it from streaming its signals into the United States. However, the Canadian courts did not have the opportunity to consider the matter because, in late February, the company succumbed to legal pressure and agreed to discontinue its streaming operations in return for the withdrawal of all actions against it. The company also agreed to withdraw its December 1999 request to the Canadian Copyright Board for an interim Internet retransmission tariff for the years 1999 and 2000, with a final tariff to be determined in due course.