In a rather concerning development, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has granted Intervu Inc. a patent that covers strategic aspects of delivering audio and video content over the Internet.The patent - number 5956716 - was issued on September 21, 1999, and is entitled “System and Method for Delivery of Video Data Over a Computer Network.” This patent covers the storage, organisation and management of the large amounts of audio and video content that is delivered across the Internet, as well as how distributed delivery centres are tied together to share the high volumes of information and the resultant high loads of traffic.“We believe that this patent validates the fact that we pioneered the distributed network architecture for streaming media and provides us with protection for key aspects of our technology,” said Harry Gruber, chairman & CEO of Intervu. “This will be the first of many patents that will help establish InterVu as the pre-eminent streaming media management and delivery service provider.“Without getting into the legal nitty gritty of the finite details of the patent, it is warning shot for any existing independent webcasters - their “free speech” of Internet broadcasting might soon be regulated, taxed and/or cut off all together.