Limelight Networks
Encyclopedia
Limelight Networks is a content delivery network
service provider. The company is based in Tempe
, Arizona
, U.S.A., with offices in San Francisco, Seattle, New York, London, Paris, Frankfurt, and Tokyo. The company operates a global fiber-optic network that helps content publishers avoid sending files over the busy public Internet but still deliver them directly to end-users. As of December 2008, the company's network is directly connected to over 900 last-mile providers and has over 5 Tbit/s of egress capacity.
In June 2006, Limelight Networks was sued by Akamai Technologies
and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
over alleged patent infringement. In April 2009, the District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled that Limelight Networks did not infringe, overturning the February 2008 finding of a Boston jury.
In July 2006, the company closed a $130 million equity financing round led by Goldman Sachs Capital Partners
.
In June 2007, Limelight Networks raised $240 million in an initial public offering, selling 16 million shares at $15.
In August 2007, the company announced a technology and services agreement with Microsoft
under which Limelight will help improve the performance, scalability, and reliability of Internet delivery of media content and online services, including video, music, games, software, and social media, across Microsoft's global Internet properties.
In December 2007, Limelight Networks was sued by Level 3 Communications
over alleged intellectual property and patent infringement. In January 2009, a jury ruled that Limelight Networks did not infringe.
In March 2008, the company was the infrastructure provider for the webcast of Oprah's "A New Earth" classroom series, featuring author Eckhart Tolle
. The live event drew over 800,000 users. The server crashed during the event because of an error in the programming code; the crash was widely misreported as a failure of network infrastructure.
In April 2008, company founder Michael Gordon was recognized as a "Streaming Media All-Star" by StreamingMedia Magazine, for his contributions to the industry.
In May 2008, NBC announced that the company would be the content delivery network for the 2008 Beijing Olympics webcast on NBCOlympics.com.
In June 2008, the company was the primary source of content delivery services for the online debut of Disney's Camp Rock
. The 24-hour online event saw more than 863,000 total plays for the movie.
In August 2008, the company delivered "more than 50 million unique visitors, resulting in 1.3 billion page views, 70 million video streams, and 600 million minutes of video watched" for NBCOlympics.com, using Microsoft Silverlight technology.
In January 2009, the company delivered the inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama
to 2.5 million Internet viewers around the world, resulting in more than 9 million simultaneous multimedia streams overall flowing through the company's network.
In March 2009, the company was the exclusive mobile content delivery provider for CBS' coverage of the 2009 NCAA Tournament. Limelight Networks' technology was used to deliver coverage of the college basketball games to the Apple iPhone.
In May 2009, the company acquired Kiptronic, Inc., a privately-held provider of device-optimized content delivery solutions and dynamic advertising insertion. It exists today as the LimelightADS and LimelightREACH offerings.
In April 2010, the company acquired EyeWonder, Inc., a privately-held provider of rich media advertising (or "interactive digital advertising") founded in 1999 for $110 million. As part of the purchase of EyeWonder, Limelight Networks, Inc. also purchased chors GmbH. Together, the 2 companies consist of the EyeWonder business unit of Limelight Networks (or EyeWonder, a Limelight Networks business).
In August 2010, the company acquired Delve Networks, Inc., a privately-held provider of cloud-based video publishing and analytics services. It exists today as the Limelight Video Platform.
Content Delivery Network
A content delivery network or content distribution network is a system of computers containing copies of data placed at various nodes of a network....
service provider. The company is based in Tempe
Tempe, Arizona
Tempe is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2010 population of 161,719. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in the East Valley section of metropolitan Phoenix; it is bordered by Phoenix and Guadalupe on the west, Scottsdale...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, U.S.A., with offices in San Francisco, Seattle, New York, London, Paris, Frankfurt, and Tokyo. The company operates a global fiber-optic network that helps content publishers avoid sending files over the busy public Internet but still deliver them directly to end-users. As of December 2008, the company's network is directly connected to over 900 last-mile providers and has over 5 Tbit/s of egress capacity.
Company history
The company was founded in 2001 in Tempe, Arizona.In June 2006, Limelight Networks was sued by Akamai Technologies
Akamai Technologies
Akamai Technologies, Inc. is an Internet content delivery network headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US.The company was founded in 1998 by then-MIT graduate student Daniel M. Lewin, and MIT Applied Mathematics professor Tom Leighton...
and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
over alleged patent infringement. In April 2009, the District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled that Limelight Networks did not infringe, overturning the February 2008 finding of a Boston jury.
In July 2006, the company closed a $130 million equity financing round led by Goldman Sachs Capital Partners
Goldman Sachs Capital Partners
Goldman Sachs Capital Partners is the private equity arm of Goldman Sachs, focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments globally....
.
In June 2007, Limelight Networks raised $240 million in an initial public offering, selling 16 million shares at $15.
In August 2007, the company announced a technology and services agreement with Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
under which Limelight will help improve the performance, scalability, and reliability of Internet delivery of media content and online services, including video, music, games, software, and social media, across Microsoft's global Internet properties.
In December 2007, Limelight Networks was sued by Level 3 Communications
Level 3 Communications
Level 3 Communications is a telecommunications and Internet service provider headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado.It operates a Tier 1 network. The company provides core transport, IP, voice, video and content delivery for most of the medium to large Internet carriers in North America and Europe...
over alleged intellectual property and patent infringement. In January 2009, a jury ruled that Limelight Networks did not infringe.
In March 2008, the company was the infrastructure provider for the webcast of Oprah's "A New Earth" classroom series, featuring author Eckhart Tolle
Eckhart Tolle
Eckhart Tolle is a German-born Canadian resident, best known as the author of the The Power of Now and A New Earth, which were written in English. In 2011, he was listed by the Watkins Review as the most spiritually influential person in the world...
. The live event drew over 800,000 users. The server crashed during the event because of an error in the programming code; the crash was widely misreported as a failure of network infrastructure.
In April 2008, company founder Michael Gordon was recognized as a "Streaming Media All-Star" by StreamingMedia Magazine, for his contributions to the industry.
In May 2008, NBC announced that the company would be the content delivery network for the 2008 Beijing Olympics webcast on NBCOlympics.com.
In June 2008, the company was the primary source of content delivery services for the online debut of Disney's Camp Rock
Camp Rock
Camp Rock is a 2008 Disney Channel Original Movie starring the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato. The music is written by Julie Brown, Paul Brown, Regina Hicks and Karen Gist. The film is directed by Matthew Diamond and produced by Alan Sacks....
. The 24-hour online event saw more than 863,000 total plays for the movie.
In August 2008, the company delivered "more than 50 million unique visitors, resulting in 1.3 billion page views, 70 million video streams, and 600 million minutes of video watched" for NBCOlympics.com, using Microsoft Silverlight technology.
In January 2009, the company delivered the inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
to 2.5 million Internet viewers around the world, resulting in more than 9 million simultaneous multimedia streams overall flowing through the company's network.
In March 2009, the company was the exclusive mobile content delivery provider for CBS' coverage of the 2009 NCAA Tournament. Limelight Networks' technology was used to deliver coverage of the college basketball games to the Apple iPhone.
In May 2009, the company acquired Kiptronic, Inc., a privately-held provider of device-optimized content delivery solutions and dynamic advertising insertion. It exists today as the LimelightADS and LimelightREACH offerings.
In April 2010, the company acquired EyeWonder, Inc., a privately-held provider of rich media advertising (or "interactive digital advertising") founded in 1999 for $110 million. As part of the purchase of EyeWonder, Limelight Networks, Inc. also purchased chors GmbH. Together, the 2 companies consist of the EyeWonder business unit of Limelight Networks (or EyeWonder, a Limelight Networks business).
In August 2010, the company acquired Delve Networks, Inc., a privately-held provider of cloud-based video publishing and analytics services. It exists today as the Limelight Video Platform.
Major customers
- ActivisionActivisionActivision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
- Amazon UnboxAmazon UnboxAmazon Instant Video is an Internet video on demand service, only available in the United States, offered by Amazon.com which offers television shows and films for rental and purchase. The service became available on September 7, 2006 as Amazon Unbox...
- BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
- BuyMusicBuyMusicBuyMusic was a paid online music store run by Buy.com.*Pricing: Cost per download typically US$0.99 per single, US$9.99 per album*Platform: Microsoft Windows, Windows 98 and later*Downloading: Yes*Burning/Copying: Yes*Streaming: No*Radio: No...
- DirecTVDirecTVDirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
- Disney
- DreamWorksDreamWorksDreamWorks Pictures, also known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC, DreamWorks Studios or DW Studios, LLC, is an American film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming...
- EA SportsEA SportsEA Sports is a brand of Electronic Arts that creates and develops sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to mimic real-life sports networks by calling themselves "EA Sports Network" with pictures or endorsements of real commentators such as John...
- FacebookFacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
- Foxnews.com
- Harpo ProductionsHarpo ProductionsHarpo Productions, Inc. is an incorporated US-based multimedia production company founded by Oprah Winfrey . It also includes Harpo Films & Harpo Radio, Inc....
- ifilmIFilmifilm.com was an online archive of short films, movie trailers, and other video clips of interest. Ifilm.com was originally founded by independent filmmaker Raphael Raphael in 1997 as an independent film and media collective...
- ITV PlayITV PlayITV Play was a 24/7 participation television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV plc. The ITV Play name continued on the ITV Network until December 2007....
- MicrosoftMicrosoftMicrosoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
- MSNBCMSNBCMSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
- MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
- NetflixNetflixNetflix, Inc., is an American provider of on-demand internet streaming media in the United States, Canada, and Latin America and flat rate DVD-by-mail in the United States. The company was established in 1997 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, California...
- Nissan
- PlayStation Network
- RackSpaceRackspaceRackspace US, Inc. is an IT hosting company based in San Antonio, Texas. The company also has offices in Australia, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Hong Kong, and data centers operating in Texas, Illinois, Virginia, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong in late 2008...
- Smart.fmSmart.fmSmart.fm was a social learning- and community website created by Cerego Japan, Inc. The website used spaced repetition algorithms to assist users in committing facts to long term memory and increasing learning speed. Users could create, manage and share lists of facts to memorize; as well as...
- Steam
- Toyota
- Valve CorporationValve CorporationValve Corporation is an American video game development and digital distribution company based in Bellevue, Washington, United States...
- XboxXboxThe Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
- Windows UpdateWindows UpdateWindows Update is a service provided by Microsoft that provides updates for the Microsoft Windows operating system and its installed components, including Internet Explorer...