One of the men behind cable company World on Wireless (WOW) has been accused of ?one of the largest and most brazen thefts of intellectual property ever committed in the United States,? has learned.

Canadian William R. Craig was the owner of iCraveTV, an Internet company which was accused seizing television signals without authorisation or payment, and streaming them on an Internet site.

The company reached an out of court settlement in 2000 with broadcasters including Twentieth Century Fox, Disney, Columbia Pictures, MGM, Fox, ABC, CBS as well as the National Football League and the National Basketball Association and shut down its website.

The Motion Picture Association of America filed a complaint at the time in the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania charging iCraveTV as ?responsible for one of the largest and most brazen thefts of intellectual property ever committed in the United States?.

WOW went head to head with two other companies, SGC Ventures and Coral Cable Network, to win a licence to offer cable TV last year.

The company led by Mr. Craig and CableVision founder Gavin Wilson was victorious and has said it?s ready to launch the 114-channel service in February and break CableVision?s monopoly.

Hardell Cable, which claims it was granted permission for a licence as long ago as 1996, has launched legal action against the Government over the decision to hand out the licence, which it claims was already issued, to WOW.

In its application for a licence, Mr. Craig?s role in iCraveTV is acknowledged, although it doesn?t mention the settlement, simply stating: ?Mr. Craig also established iCraveTV.com, an innovative broadcast television website.?

Mr. Wilson, president of WOW, told this week?This is old news. We were asked for a letter of clarification by Government at the time and we were happy to provide it. That is all I am prepared to say on this.?

The MPAA was unwilling to comment on Mr. Craig?s intention to broadcast in Bermuda.

CableVision settled a 12-year legal battle with the MPAA last year after a similar dispute with US networks.

The dispute had seen a coalition of US networks combine in a multi-million dollar lawsuit to accuse CableVision of pirating their programmes.

CableVision had tried to settle over the years and has been putting aside funds to cover a possible settlement for years, with an estimated $23 million used to settle the action.