We’ve covered SeeqPod quite a bit here on TechCrunch. The San Francisco startup has been hard at work to develop a way to intelligently index media files on the Web to make them searchable online, and introduced an API which many other startups and projects made use of to power their own music, video and audio search engines. But despite the fact that its technology has always been pretty unique, the startup has had a rocky road up until now.
SeeqPod has always tried to avoid getting sued by pointing to the DMCA, and arguing that it merely indexes media from across the Internet (much of it not copyright-cleared) but does not effectively host any files and thus should be protected from litigation. Regardless, music labels in particular were not pleased with how SeeqPod and many of the web services using its technology as an underlying foundation were discovering and streaming songs on the net. The record labels sued, Seeqpod filed for bankruptcy, and then put itself up for sale.
Did anyone bite? Right now the site is down, with a message saying it is “cocooned for metamorphosis…” The word “metamorphosis” links to Microsoft Search, which could mean that it is in talks with Microsoft to sell the company, its technology assets or the link could just reflect wishful thinking on Seeqpod’s part.
Microsoft would most likely be interested in Seeqpod’s underlying technology and could deploy it in a much different manner than Seeqpod. It would also be in a better position to settle the lawsuits with the music industry quickly.