Intertainer Inc. will shut down and lay off most of its remaining staff while
pursuing a lawsuit against the major movie studios, CEO Jonathan Taplin said
Thursday, according to Reuters.
The Culver City, Calif.-based company plans to close its movie-selling
service Oct. 23 and lay off 10 of its remaining 15 employees two days later,
Taplin said.
He added that the company, which once employed 80 people, would maintain a
skeleton staff and a Web presence 'so we can put [the service] back up when we
have success with the lawsuit.'
The lawsuit alleged that the movie studios conspired to fix prices for online
movie distribution in order to drive Intertainer out of business and start their
own online services.
The suit asked a federal judge in Los Angeles to order the companies to stop
their 'anti-competitive conduct' and to divest themselves of any interest in
their competing online movie venture, Movielink.
