StreamCast suit against Skype, EBay thrown out

A federal judge has thrown out an antitrust lawsuit filed by the distributor of Morpheus file-sharing software against Internet phone service provider Skype Technologies, EBay Inc. and other defendants.

StreamCast Networks Inc. had sought more than $4.1 billion in unspecified damages and a court order blocking EBay from selling Skype services. StreamCast claimed the founders of Skype broke an agreement to give StreamCast the right of first refusal for the technology behind Skype’s voice over Internet protocol service.

In her ruling on a motion for dismissal, U.S. District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper concluded that StreamCast failed to make its case for relief under federal antitrust laws and dismissed all claims against Skype, EBay and more than a dozen other defendants.