iComp does not exhibit at Amiga 34

In the past few weeks, many customers have asked us why we are not on exhibiting at the Amiga 34 event in Neuss, although iComp GmbH was among the initiators of the original Amiga 30 event, and we were even listed as a sponsor earlier this year.

The answer is easy: Cloanto is co-sponsoring the Amiga 34, but at the same is pursuing legal steps against Hyperion - an important member of the Amiga community - in the USA and Belgium. In the US case, Cloanto was asked to to provide proof for the claims of owning certain rights, but did not do so until today. We see a strong similarity to their previous claim of owning an unlimited license to P96 for inclusion with an emulator product.

The newly-founded "C-A Acquisition company", based in the USA, claims to have acquired the rights to the Amiga OS and logos from Amiga inc. The contract is signed by Bill McEwen, the former CEO of Amiga inc. However, the signature was given after Bill McEwen resigned as a CEO, as several news items and his own LinkedIn profile prove. We therefore share Hyperion's legal opinion as shown in the legal proceedings without any restrictions.

We have signed licensing contracts for our products ACA500plus and Buddha with Hyperion CVBA, because the text of the settlement agreement with Amiga inc. dated september 30th, 2009, was opened up. This agreements shows beyond any doubt that Hyperion is the only company that can provide the licenses we require.

Trusting that the outcome of the lawsuits is going to be positive for Hyperion, we will continue to provide not just financial support. We further encourage everyone to buy the new version of Amiga OS, if you haven't already done so.

So why are we not starting legal action against Cloanto? Among legal professionals, there is the term of the "Italian Torpedo": If a party manages to take such a case to an Italian court, a timely judgement cannot be expected. Spending money on a lengthy lawsuit in Italy would be a very ineffective use of our money.

The Amiga events in Neuss have meant high revenues for us in the past. Despite that, we have decided not to exhibit, because it would be against our policies to be a co-sponsor with Cloanto.

The Amiga34 event is sold out, and we encourage everyone who has a ticket to attend it. If you believe that our reasons for not exhibiting at Amiga 34 are right, please wear a black shirt during the weekend of the event.