{"id":9453,"date":"2020-06-17T02:12:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-16T23:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/jeffrey-katzenberg-resorting-to-unusual-tactics-to-avoid-quibi-suit\/"},"modified":"2020-06-17T02:12:00","modified_gmt":"2020-06-16T23:12:00","slug":"jeffrey-katzenberg-resorting-to-unusual-tactics-to-avoid-quibi-suit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/jeffrey-katzenberg-resorting-to-unusual-tactics-to-avoid-quibi-suit\/","title":{"rendered":"#Jeffrey Katzenberg resorting to unusual tactics to avoid Quibi suit"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Jeffrey Katzenberg resorting to unusual tactics to avoid Quibi suit<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg is resorting to unusual tactics to fend off a lawsuit against his struggling video startup Quibi, The Post has learned.<\/p>\n

Despite publicly blasting patent infringement claims by video company Eko as meritless, Quibi has quietly hired private investigators to dig up dirt on the rival \u2014 including its founder Yoni Bloch and its billionaire backer Paul Singer, who\u2019s bankrolling the Quibi lawsuit, sources said.<\/p>\n

The Post has spoken with five ex-Eko employees who have fielded calls from Quibi\u2019s private eyes in recent weeks. They say the investigators didn\u2019t ask about the technology<\/a> issues in the lawsuit and focused instead on Bloch\u2019s management style, Eko\u2019s work culture and internal disputes that might be brewing beneath the surface.<\/p>\n

A techie who worked at Eko eight years ago said he was asked \u201cif there was any shouting in the office\u201d or if he noticed if Eko was in \u201cfinancial trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t aware of financial problems \u2026 and the environment was great,\u201d said this person, who asked not to be identified. \u201cThey asked if I was aware who invested in the company. I suspected that they were trying to get some dirty information,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not like I was hiding anything. The phone call kept me busy while I was shopping.\u201d<\/p>\n

In March, Eko sued the well-funded Katzenberg startup, claiming it stole Eko\u2019s technology for playing videos either vertically and horizontally, depending on how the user is holding the smartphone. The March 20 lawsuit alleges that Quibi employees had access to Eko\u2019s technology through nondisclosure agreements.<\/p>\n

Quibi, which has tapp<\/a>ed big stars like Kevin Hart, Jennifer Lopez and Nick Jonas for its short-form videos, has denied the claims, and has asked a Los Angeles federal court judge to issue a declaratory judgment in its favor.<\/p>\n

The dispute comes as Quibi, launched in the midst of the pandemic with a focus on under-10-minute films, struggles to sign up subscribers. In a court hearing last month, Quibi\u2019s lawyers argued that Eko\u2019s demands to disable the technology pending the outcome of their case would hinder its ability to sign up new customers.<\/p>\n

Austin Beers, who worked at Eko until 2015, said he was called on June 4 by a man who explained he was working with Quibi\u2019s lawyers.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe asked, \u2018how ethical was the company?\u2019, \u2018Did they cut any corners\u2019 and if I knew any of the investors, particularly Paul Singer,\u201d Beers said.<\/p>\n

Beers, who has never met Singer, said some of the questions appeared to stem from bad reviews about Eko on Glassdoor.com. Beers acknowledged that the startup culture means long hours and that his bosses, who were Israeli, had an intense management style.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmericans are used to a softer style, a compliment sandwich. Americans love that. Israelis think that\u2019s bulls\u2013t. It took me four months to realize that it\u2019s just passion, not personal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assaf Dagan, who co-founded a now-defunct startup with Bloch called Hykoo in 2015, said a man and woman called him last week asking about Bloch\u2019s \u201cconduct.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey asked some questions about Yoni\u2019s conduct and our relationship. How did it end when he closed the company? Were people angry at Yoni?\u201d Dagan said.<\/p>\n

The investigators also asked whether Bloch had taken the company\u2019s storytelling technology with him to Eko \u2014 leaving Hykoo to flounder.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a narrative they were digging about Yoni using this technology behind our backs,\u201d Dagan said before dismissing the notion.<\/p>\n

Sources say the calls came from a number associated with the W Group, a Walnut Creek, Calif., private investigation firm founded by Scott Wilcox. Neither Wilcox nor Quibi\u2019s Morrison & Foerster lawyers replied to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Quibi said: \u201cThis litigation is completely without merit, and we are using every resource at our disposal to defend against it \u2014 and will continue to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite TV shows like \u201cThe Good Wife\u201d popularizing the idea of private investigators being called on every case, legal experts say it\u2019s not common, and suggests Quibi may be seeking to undercut Eko\u2019s claims outside of court.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are trying to get some dirt, to find something embarrassing to cause the other side to want to drop the lawsuit,\u201d opined Brad Simon, a partner at Windels Marx who specializes in white-collar crime. Such \u201csleazy tactics\u201d are not often looked upon kindly by judges, but they have become a strategy in \u201chigh stakes\u201d litigations, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the sort of thing that happens when one side is desperate,\u201d another lawyer, who asked not to be named, said.\n <\/p><\/div>\n

Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

If you want to read more Business News<\/a> articles, you can visit our General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

if you want to watch Movies<\/a> or Tv Shows go to Dizi.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a> <\/span> for forums sites go to Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#Jeffrey Katzenberg resorting to unusual tactics to avoid Quibi suit” Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg is resorting to unusual tactics to fend off a lawsuit against his struggling video startup Quibi, The Post has learned. Despite publicly blasting patent infringement claims by video company Eko as meritless, Quibi has quietly hired private investigators to dig up…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[19763,19762,19765,19764],"class_list":["post-9453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-hollywood-mogul-jeffrey-katzenberg-is-resorting-to-unusual-tactics-to-fend-off-a-lawsuit-against-his-struggling-video-startup-quibi","tag-jeffrey-katzenberg-resorting-to-unusual-tactics-to-avoid-quibi-suit","tag-quibi-has-quietly-hired-private-investigators-to-dig-up-dirt-on-the-rival-including-its-founder-yoni-bloch","tag-the-post-has-learned-despite-publicly-blasting-patent-infringement-claims-by-video-company-eko-as-meritless"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9453\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}