StreamCast CEO and CTO resign

StreamCast Networks, developer of the Morpheus P2P system, lost its CEO and CTO earlier this month. CEO and founder Steve Griffin and CTO Darrell Smith said they resigned over a dispute with Timberline Venture Partners, the venture capital firm that controls StreamCast’s board of directors.

The company issued a press release stating that StreamCast “remains firmly committed to producing superior P2P software products like Morpheus.”

StreamCast, which also lost its COO, is currently being run by the remaining members of the executive team.

It’s difficult to know exactly what prompted the exodus of Griffin and Smith. Certainly Griffin had a difficult job keeping the company on an even footing as it battles against legal action by the Recording Industry Association of America. StreamCast is also weathering stiff competition from Kazaa, which now has a wide lead in the P2P market.

Morpheus also took a hit about a year ago when many users were disconnected unexpectedly from the network which helped give rise to Kazaa’s prominence.

Griffin and Smith were also likely worn down by endless litigation, which makes it extremely difficult to run a successful company and stay on good terms with your board. The two have already announced that they have launched a new holding company called M-Terra, which will be involved in digital content distribution.

According Griffin, the new company will not venture into any area that could get them sued. He says they want to be able to pick up the phone and talk to content owners without lawyers looking over their shoulder.