Source: Reuters
By:
(TAMPA, FL) — The operators of the Voyeur Dorm Internet site Wednesday filed a suit claiming CBS Corp (NYSE:CBS – news) used proprietary information from the company for a television show the network plans to broadcast in July.
The Voyeur Dorm site (www.voyeurdorm.com) features live pictures of six young women who share a house in Tampa equipped with more than 50 television cameras. Subscribers to the site get 24-hour access to the pictures and can exchange e-mail with the women.
David Marshlack, president of Entertainment Network, Inc of Tampa, which operates the site, said CBS officials held several talks with the company in 1999 to develop a similar radio programme for Infinity Broadcasting Corp (NYSE:INF – news) (NYSE:INF – news).
But the talks broke off and CBS paid the Dutch company Endemol Entertainment Holding N.V. for rights to “Big Brother”, a programme about 10 people who share a house filled with TV cameras.
CBS plans to broadcast “Big Brother” five nights a week beginning July 6.
“We believe they (CBS) used proprietary information we gave them in violation of a nondisclosure agreement, including our revenue figures, to justify spending $20 million for rights to Big Brother,” Marshlack said in a statement.
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in New York against CBS and Infinity. It asks that CBS be prohibited from broadcasting “Big Brother.”
The Tampa City Council last year voted to close Voyeur Dorm, saying it violated regulations against adult entertainment businesses in residential neighbourhoods because the women sometimes appear nude. Entertainment Network is fighting the ruling in court while the website continues to operate.
A male version of the site, www.dudedorm.com, began operating last year from a suburb of St. Petersburg.
