Ecast, Inc. was a privately held, venture capital–backed place-based interactive media company that offered advertising, digital music, games, entertainment, and information to bars and nightclubs in the United States. The company was founded in 1999 and was headquartered in San Francisco, California. Ecast, Inc. ceased operations when it closed its Jukebox network on March 1, 2012.

Services

Its hospitality network delivered digital music, way finding, coupons, social media, third party content, and advertising options to more than 10,000 venues at its peak, including bars, nightclubs,

tavern A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that h ...

s, resorts,

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

s, restaurants,

retail stores The retail format (also known as the retail formula) influences the consumer's store choice and addresses the consumer's expectations. At its most basic level, a retail format is a simple marketplace, that is; a location where goods and services are ...

, event pavilions, and

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectato ...

SmartSolution

Touchscreen A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is ofte ...

software that served advertising and social media impressions, as well as

direct marketing associations The Data & Marketing Association (formerly, Direct Marketing Association), also known as the DMA, is a trade organization for marketers. In 2017 their web site stated "Yes, 100 years ago we were the Direct Mail Marketing Association and then the Di ...

operating on 3rd party hardware platforms.

SmartMall

interactive media Interactive media normally refers to products and services on digital computer-based systems which respond to the user's actions by presenting content such as text, moving image, animation, video and audio. Since its early conception, variou ...

service that provided shopping customers with up-to-date information on the latest style and trends with editorialized content and coupons/offers.

SmartTransit

An advertising and content service that connected users to advertisers.

SmartConcierge

System that displays interactive images/movies showcasing the amenities of a client's hotel/resort.

Jukebox

An interactive place-based broadband enabled interactive media service for the bar and nightclub market.

History

The company was founded in 1999 and was headquartered in San Francisco, California. Ecast merged with

RioPort RioPort, Inc. was created in 1999 as a spin-out from the Rio (digital audio players) group of Diamond Multimedia. RioPort was formed to create an Internet service for consumers to acquire legal digital music to play on their computers and MP3 player ...

in October 2002. Rioport was a digital music download service precursor to iTunes and was the first service to sign digital download agreements with all 5 of the major music labels. Ecast, Inc. ceased operations when it closed its Jukebox network on March 1, 2012. The company's board of directors voted for an immediate shutdown after the company failed to raise enough capital to continue operating. Ecast's phones and email were turned off shortly after. AMI Entertainment Network Inc. and TouchTunes Interactive Networks indicated they would accommodate customers no longer able to access the company's services.

Controversies

TouchTunes patent dispute

In late 2001, Ecast filed a lawsuit against TouchTunes Music Corporation claiming the company resorted to unfair trade practices by notifying Ecast and its customers that they were infringing TouchTunes' patent. On October 15, 2003, Ecast voluntarily dismissed its own claims against TouchTunes for interference with contracts and unfair competition. In January 2004, TouchTunes filed a counterclaim that Ecast infringed on their patent rights by incorporating Touchtunes’ technology into their systems. Ecast also had a separate patent infringement case against TouchTunes, charging the company with infringement by selling its jukeboxes within the U.S. Ultimately TouchTunes and Ecast agreed to cross-license TouchTunes' U.S. Patent No. 6,308,204 and Ecast's U.S. Patent No. 5,341,350, which it licensed from NSM Music Group Limited.

Civil antitrust action

In September 2005, the Attorney General of the United States filed a civil antitrust action against Ecast, Inc. and NSM Music Group, Ltd. The lawsuit alleged that a February 2003 agreement between the companies was in violation of Section 1 of the

Sherman Antitrust Act The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 (, ) is a United States antitrust law which prescribes the rule of free competition among those engaged in commerce. It was passed by United States Congress, Congress and is named for Senator John Sherman, i ...

. Specifically that the negotiations which eventually led to NSM Music Group manufacturing Ecast's hardware, after their previous manufacturer terminated the supply agreement, included an agreement by NSM to abandon its plans to enter the U.S. market in return for an upfront payment by Ecast. The Attorney General contended that NSM's agreement caused them to abandon their plan to incorporate their own distinctive digital jukebox platform into their physical jukeboxes and enter the United States market. The Department of Justice simultaneously announced alongside the lawsuit that it had reached a settlement with NSM and Ecast under which the two companies terminated their non-compete agreement.

Samuel "Mouli" Cohen

In 2009, Ecast co-founder and one-time

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

and Executive Chairman,

Samuel "Mouli" Cohen Samuel "Mouli" Cohen (born April 8, 1958) is an Israeli-American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and convicted fraudster who claimed to have held the positions of president, chairman, and CEO of several public and private video game companies w ...

defrauded 55 investors, including actor

Danny Glover Danny Lebern Glover (; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, film director, and political activist. He is widely known for his lead role as Roger Murtaugh in the '' Lethal Weapon'' film series. He also had leading roles in his films inclu ...

and the

Vanguard Public Foundation Vanguard Public Foundation was an American social justice foundation focused on providing grants to social justice nonprofits. One of the first of the "rich kid foundations," Vanguard was a model for a new generation's philanthropy. Vanguard rose a ...

, of more than $28 million and two lawsuits were filed. Cohen told investors that Ecast, Inc. was about to be acquired by

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...

. Based on those false representations, victims purchased some of Cohen's founders’ shares in Ecast. A federal grand jury in 2010 indicted Cohen on 32 felony counts of

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compen ...

and

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdiction ...

and was arrested in August 2010. In November 2011, Cohen was found guilty of 15 counts of

wire fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical or electronic mail system to defraud another, and are federal crimes there. Jurisdiction is claimed by the federal government if the illegal activit ...

, 11 counts of money laundering, and three counts of

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the tax ...

. He was acquitted of six additional charges. At the courthouse, he was taken into custody.

References

{{Reflist Mass media companies established in 1999 Companies disestablished in 2012 Defunct online companies of the United States Entertainment companies of the United States 1999 establishments in California 2012 disestablishments in California Companies based in San Francisco