In an attempt to get more colleges and universities to pay royalties on revenue-generating distance-education programs that include the use of streaming video, Acacia Research Corp.--the company that claims to own the patent on streaming video technology--will issue a revised licensing proposal to schools, eSchool News has learned. The letter, which schools should begin receiving this week, marks the latest salvo by Acacia in the fight for streaming video and audio technology ownership on the internet.

The letter comes because schools have been slow to respond to Acacia's initial requests for royalty payments. Though a few academic institutions reportedly have acquiesced and entered into agreements with the company, the majority of schools thus far have resisted. Paying up to a 2-percent royalty for every audio and video clip streamed by students and professors is ridiculous, they assert, and threatens the very existence of distance-education programs in America's schools.

Amid the schools' concerns, Rob Berman, Acacia's general counsel, said the company reworked its original proposal, issued in July, to provide a more school-friendly licensing structure.

Under the original agreement, Acacia had demanded a minimum payment of $5,000 from any school that uses streaming video or audio for "educational purposes," including online and traditional courses, virtual campus tours, sporting events, and promotional spots for prospective students.

The latest proposal reduces the annual minimum fee to $1,000 and provides schools with a choice of two payment options. Schools can either pay the company $2 for each distance-education enrollment or 7 cents per audio or video download. Schools that do not offer revenue-generating online services containing streaming video and audio--and distance-education programs that enroll less than 500 students or stream less than 14,000 audio and video downloads per year--do not have to pay for a license, according to the letter.

Acacia eventually plans to send similar letters to all 4,000 colleges and universities in the country informing them of the company's patents and its demands, Berman said.

Though a handful of universities and eLearning service providers, including Capella Education Company, Chapman University, Oral Roberts University, Park University, and the online 24/7 University, already have inked agreements with the company, more than 40 universities and several digital-rights groups banded together earlier this summer to fight Acacia's patent claims. Critics called the patents "bogus" and recommended that schools let the situation play out in court before opening up their checkbooks to the little-known company from Newport Beach, Calif.

Berman said the new agreement should be much easier for schools to swallow. In an attempt to be more understanding of the financial burden additional licensing fees would place on educational institutions, he said, Acacia decided to soften its stance--giving schools one more chance to meet the company's demands.