Amiga Inc. is in danger of insolvency and the Amiga brand again faces uncertainty.
Story by James H. Russell - AO Staff Writer/Editor
Since the demise of Commodore nearly a decade ago, Amiga has had a tumultuous time trying to survive as a computer platform. The ever-shrinking Amiga community has seen owner after owner of the Amiga brand and technologies promise "the second coming" of Amiga only to be rewarded for their loyalty by failed promises, minor technology upgrades, and no significant new products.
A brief history of Amiga Inc.[/i]
The latest owner of the Amiga brand is Amiga Inc., which is headed by Bill McEwen, a former contractor for Amiga Development LLC under Gateway in the late 1990s. Since taking over the Amiga name in January 2000, Amiga Inc. has weathered the brutality of the embittered Amiga community fairly well. To some, it seemed the "curse of Amiga" had finally been lifted. The company's plans for the Amiga Digital Environment (based on Tao's intent real-time operating system) were bold but clever, and the promise to put future Amiga software on any possible device was compelling to say the least.
The key problem many in the community had with Amiga Inc.'s initial plan was an apparent total lack of interest in sustaining and maintaining the Amiga OS as a PC platform. In 2001, Amiga changed its tune and announced that it was outsourcing new Amiga hardware specifications to Eyetech Group, Ltd. and a PPC-native Amiga OS 4 to Hyperion Entertainment, both companies remain profitable to this day selling Amiga products.
For the first two years things seemed to move along fairly well; Amiga had software (the Amiga DE) available for Windows and Linux, and announced deals with major wireless telephone manufacturers - and even Microsoft - for cross-promotional deals. Talk of an IPO excited the community briefly until the company quickly pulled back from an IPO citing the technology market's woes as the reason. The Amiga DE has even gotten as far as CompUSA, where Pocket PC owners can buy the Amiga Entertainment Packs #1 and #2; card with Amiga-branded games on it for their SmartPhones or Windows CE-powered devices.
Signs of Trouble[/i]
Then, last year, the company mysteriously disappeared from its offices in Snoqualmie, Wash., and a year later the property management in charge of the offices auctioned off Amiga's belongings, likely to help pay the debt owed to it by the company.
Many in the community were trepedatious about the auction and what it meant to the company and its future. Bill McEwen reassured the community that Amiga Inc. was not in any trouble, that they had in fact moved to Seattle to be closer to key partners. The nervous community, who had little choice, accepted McEwen's statement.
Many in the community continued to insist that something was wrong - Amiga had already defaulted its customers on a T-shirt promised to purchasers of an AmigaONE coupon pre-sell in 2002 - but Amiga Inc. employees continued to insist vehemently in online forums and at Amiga shows that the company was not in any trouble.
The Litigation[/i]
Recent court documents have surfaced that at last shed light on litigation by former employees and Thendic/Genesi.
Specifically, the court documents state:
* In July 2003, Bill McEwen was scheduled for a deposition in Washington state. His lawyers claimed that he was unable to attend the deposition for health reasons and that he was receiving medical treatment in Montana. Bill Buck of Thendic/Genesi was to attend the first deposition but was unable to attend the reschedule deposition. When asked for specifics, McEwen said only that he was being treated by someone recommended by a “horse riding acquaintance” and would supply no further details.
* Since mid-2001, Amiga Inc. failed to pay employees, paid them late, delivered payment checks that bounced, and without warning to the employees ceased paying insurance premiums. At least one employee accrued thousands of dollars in medical bills that should have been covered by his insurance as a result. Multiple former employees of Amiga Inc. are now suing the company and Bill McEwen for tens of thousands of dollars in back pay; at least one employee has even filed for bankruptcy. In his deposition, McEwen admits that Amiga Inc. has “about a hundred dollars” in its bank account and currently has debts amounting to 2.2 million dollars.
* In November 2000, Amiga Inc. reached an agreement with Thendic Electronic Components (now Thendic/Genesi) to port the Amiga DE OS to a specific list of Thendic devices (including a Windows CE-based device). The contract states that future Thendic devices may be added to this list, but those devices would require the approval of Amiga Inc. to be so added. Pegasos, a PowerPC-based computer that runs an Amiga-compatible operating system and competes with the AmigaONE, did not publicly exist at that time. Thendic/Genesi is now suing Amiga Inc. for breach of contract by failing to port the Amiga DE to Pegasos. The crux of the case will be the legal interpretation of whether or not Amiga unlawfully withheld approval of Pegasos as a new device under that contract.
* Amiga Inc. has filed a countersuit against Thendic/Genesi for "numerous violations of our tradmarks [and] numerous public statements that were false and misleading." When asked what amount Amiga Inc. was asking for, McEwen first joked “fourteen billion dollars... is that too high?” and then admitted that "I don't think we've established a dollar amount."
What's Next for Amiga?[/i]
Trial dates in the documents require that all discovery materials, trial briefs, and trial exhibits must be submitted by November 26th, 2003. Proposed sanctions by Thendic/Genesi’s lawyers require Amiga Inc. to integrate the Amiga DE system into Pegasos or supply source code allowing Thendic/Genesi to integrate the system themselves no later than October 3rd, 2003. It's unclear what Amiga will do in regards to this deadline. A settlement conference is to be held no later than October 2nd, 2003. The trial date is December 1st, 2003.
Obviously, being 2.2 million dollars in debt does not bode well for the future of Amiga Inc. That said, it's not possible to predict the eventual outcome of the litigation or the company's mounting debts.
One hope for a new Amiga computer remains: Amiga Inc. signed agreements with Hyperion and Eyetech that theoretically ensure that they would be able to market and sell Amiga OS 4 and the AmigaONE no matter what happened to Amiga Inc. However, a bankruptcy by Amiga Inc. (should that drastic measure come about) has the potential to change this. In any case, the AmigaONE hardware is shipping now with Linux and a coupon for a free copy of Amiga OS 4 upon its release (Hyperion estimates that Amiga OS 4 for the AmigaONE will be released hopefully in early 2004).
What lies ahead for Amiga Inc. is unclear; certainly the Amiga community, battle-scarred as they are by a decade of failed Amiga revival attempts, will be let down by this news. Unless Amiga is endowed with a significant cash infusion (or is acquired by another company) soon, the future looks grim. To be sure, the community will watch and wait in suspense while the future of the legendary Amiga brand and intellectual property is once again uncertain.
James H. Russell - AO Staff Writer/Editor
