The dispute between Boss Media A.B. and Trillion Ltd. has escalated although surprisingly little at this point is known about why the companies are at loggerheads.
According to a prepared statement from Boss Media issued in April, the dispute began when Trillion, which trades as Pokertrillion, was thrown off the IPN Network for what Boss Media called rakeback violations.
In response to being removed from the network, Poketrillion sought a court order to freeze Boss Media's assets in Malta.
Poketrillion, which launched in December 2007, in a press release yesterday claimed victory in the court battle.
The First Hall Civil Court of Malta, the company said, has decreed that Pokertrillion be granted the right to seize Boss Media servers located on the Mediterranean island nation.
"Some of it is misleading really, as this is not the final decision in the whole case," Olga Finkel, the managing partner of WH Law in Malta, told IGamingNews by e-mail Tuesday. "What is certain at this point is that the main dispute -- which was filed in April of this year (435/2008) -- has not even started. I mean the main court case was filed by Trillion Limited against Boss and Boss filed a reply, but there has been not a single court sitting until now."
In response to Pokertrillion's announcement yesterday, Boss Media has put out a prepared statement to its players, part of which reads:
"Due to the peculiarities of the Malta legal system, Trillion Ltd. has been able to issue an order to secure the value of the hardware servers in the Boss Media datacenter in Malta. The order includes the possibility to unplug the servers September 18 if certain conditions are met, one being that a 2.5 MEUR (2.5 million euro) bank guarantee to be posted by Trillion Ltd. to the benefit of Boss Media."
Martin Thorvaldsson, counsel for Boss Media, told IGamingNews in April that the company's policy was "not to comment on these kinds of loose allegations."
Both Pokertrillion and Mr. Thorvaldsson have been invited by IGN to comment, though neither party did so by close of business Tuesday.
More on this to come.
Chris Krafcik is the editor of IGamingNews. He lives in St. Louis, Mo.