Blizzard has taken action against over 1,000 World of Warcraft accounts, instituting permanent bans for violating the game’s terms of service.
Sources: Gamasutra | GameIndustry.biz
New Ontario Video Game Retail Sales Law
On March 7, 2005, the Ontario Film Review Board adopted the ESRB classifications. As a result it is now an offence to sell, rent or publicly exhibit video and computer games classified as “Mature” or “Adults Only” to persons apparently under the age of 18 years. If convicted, individuals may face up to $25,000 in fines or imprisonment for a term of not more than one year or both. Corporations are liable for fines up to $100,000.
Sources: GamePolitics.com | Fradical.com | Ontario Film Review Board Press Release
Related Posts:
- No Complaints About Manitoba’s Video Game Law (September 19, 2005)
- Manitoba to Restrict Video Game Rentals to Minors (May 9, 2005)
- New Ontario Video Game Retail Sales Law (March 14, 2005)
Activision, Viacom Settle Star Trek License Lawsuit
Activision and licensor Viacom jointly announcing that they have reached an agreement regarding the future of the Star Trek video game license. The terms of the settlement were kept confidential but both parties say they intend to work together on future projects.
[Jan 25, 2006 Update: They didn’t! They went their separate ways when Bethesda acquired the Star Trek License.]
Sources: Gamasutra | Variety | GameIndustry.biz | PR Newswire | GameSpot | GameDaily | GamingReport | IGN | MSNBC
Related Posts:
Xfire Countersues Yahoo!
Xfire countersues Yahoo! claiming unfair business practices. Xfire alleges unfair business practices, complains that Yahoo! did not provide them with a cease and desist letter before suing, claims it made good faith attempts to address Yahoo!’s concerns and offered to disclose its software code to Yahoo! or to mediate the dispute with a neutral third party.
Sources: CNet | USA Today | Channel Register | Out-Law.com | XFire’s Press-release re: CounterSuit | Mar 23 GameDaily Biz Follow-up Story
Related Posts:
- Yahoo!, Xfire Settle Lawsuit (February 9, 2006)
- Xfire, Yahoo! Near Terms of Patent Dispute Settlement (November 23, 2005)
- Xfire Countersues Yahoo! (March 11, 2005)
- Yahoo! Sues Xfire for Patent Infringement (February 4, 2005)
Marvel v. NCSoft: Judge Dismisses Trademark Case
U.S. District court Judge dismisses claims that NC Soft’s character creation tool infringes Marvel’s trademarks. Finds that allegedly infringing works submitted as evidence was “false and sham” as they were created by Marvel itself, not NCSoft users.
Sources: GameLaw.org | GameIndustry.biz | Prodigious Gaming
Electronic Arts To Institute Limited Overtime Policy
A second Electronic Arts employee has filed a class-action lawsuit seeking overtime from the company, similar to suits filed against the company last year and against Vivendi Universal Games. The suit is also part of a general trend of Silicon Valley workers demanding proper recognition for overtime work.
Source: Gamasutra
Activision (Canulti):
Activision (Erimez):
EA (Lender Hasty): EA Programmers
- EA Settles Leander Hasty Class Action Labor Lawsuit – Tam Su Suit Still Pending (April 26, 2006)
- “EA Spouse” Revealed to be Erin Hoffman (April 26, 2006)
- Electronic Arts to Institute Limited Overtime Policy (March 10, 2005)
- EA Hit by Second Employee (Leander Hasty) Lawsuit (February 21, 2005)
- The “EA Spouse” Post that Started it All (November 10, 2004)
EA (Tam Su):
- EA Faces a Third Employment-Related Class-Action Suit in Florida (Tam Su) (October 11, 2005)
EA (Kirschenbaum): EA animators, texture artists, and modelers
- EA Settles Kirschenbaum Labor Dispute Lawsuit – Hasty Suit Still Pending (October 5, 2005)
- Electronic Arts Faces (Kirschenbaum) Overtime Lawsuit (November 12, 2004)
- The “EA Spouse” Post that Started it All (November 10, 2004)
- Sony Computer Entertainment Sued by its Animators and Graphic Artists. (February 11, 2005) – This case is still pending as far as I know.
Peter Jackson Sues New Line over Video Game Licensing
Jackson makes 19 allegations, among them that New Line improperly deducted costs relating to home video, used the wrong royalty rate to compute DVD sales, charged too much for subdistribution, did not pay for use of the film’s script and a song lyric written by Ms Walsh in an accompanying video game and incorrectly valued their cut from merchandise sales.
Sources: Gamasutra | Times Online | New York Times | EuroGamer | UGO | Joystiq | BBC | Video Business
ESRB Adds E10+ To Game Ratings System
The Entertainment Software Ratings Board, an industry-run group designed to provide parents with clear information so that they can choose the most appropriate computer and video games, has added a new classifier to their ratings system. The E10+ rating will serve as a halfway point between the E (Everyone) and T (Teen) ratings.
Source: Gamasutra
AVG Patent ‘690 Explained
Jim Charne Explains the Implications of AVG Patent Suit to IDGA Readers.
Sources: IGDA’s Ask Jim
Topheavy Enjoined from Guy Game Sales
Travis Co. District Judge Suzanne Covington granted a restraining order and, in January, granted a subsequent request for a temporary injunction against Topheavy. As a result, copies of The Guy Game have been removed from store shelves.
Source: Austin Chronicle
Related Posts:
- Injunction Against ‘Guy Game’ Sales Upheld in Invasion of Privacy Action (August 23, 2005)
- Topheavy Enjoined from ‘Guy Game’ Sales (February 25, 2005)
- Take-Two, Topheavy, Sony and Microsoft Sued over Topless Minor in ‘The Guy Game’ (December 21, 2004)
EA Hit By Second Employee (Leander Hasty) Lawsuit
Text of Leander Hasty Class Action Complaint
A second Electronic Arts employee has filed a class-action lawsuit seeking overtime from the company, similar to suits filed against the company last year and against Vivendi Universal Games. The suit is also part of a general trend of Silicon Valley workers demanding proper recognition for overtime work.
Sources: Gamasutra | Gamespot | GameIndustry.biz
Activision (Canulti):
Activision (Erimez):
EA (Lender Hasty): EA Programmers
- EA Settles Leander Hasty Class Action Labor Lawsuit – Tam Su Suit Still Pending (April 26, 2006)
- “EA Spouse” Revealed to be Erin Hoffman (April 26, 2006)
- Electronic Arts to Institute Limited Overtime Policy (March 10, 2005)
- EA Hit by Second Employee (Leander Hasty) Lawsuit (February 21, 2005)
- The “EA Spouse” Post that Started it All (November 10, 2004)
EA (Tam Su):
- EA Faces a Third Employment-Related Class-Action Suit in Florida (Tam Su) (October 11, 2005)
EA (Kirschenbaum): EA animators, texture artists, and modelers
- EA Settles Kirschenbaum Labor Dispute Lawsuit – Hasty Suit Still Pending (October 5, 2005)
- Electronic Arts Faces (Kirschenbaum) Overtime Lawsuit (November 12, 2004)
- The “EA Spouse” Post that Started it All (November 10, 2004)
Sony:
- Sony Computer Entertainment Sued by its Animators and Graphic Artists. (February 11, 2005) – This case is still pending as far as I know.
Square Enix Bans Over 800 PlayOnline Accounts
Square Enix, maker of the PS2 and PC MMORPG Final Fantasy XI game banned players for who have violated the PlayOnline Member Agreement for, among other things, “monopolizing monsters” – ie: the practice of large, high-level parties camping at points where particular rare items appear, blocking others’ attempts to obtain such items and thereby controlling prices for such items within ingame auction houses.
Grand Theft Auto Sparks Another Game Violence Lawsuit
Rockstar parent Take-Two Interactive, Sony, Wal-Mart, and GameStop are blamed for the murder of three policemen by a teenage car thief.
Sources: Gamasutra | Gamepolitics (scroll down)
Related Posts:
- Alabama Supreme Court Rejects Another Motion to Dismiss Take-Two/GTA Slaying Case (March 29, 2006)
- Civil Suit in Alabama Goes Forward (December 14, 2005)
- Alabama Judge Revokes Thompson’s Temporary License (November 19, 2005)
- Thompson Exits GTA Cop Killer Case (November 7, 2005)
- Thompson Comes Under Fire (November 7, 2005)
- Judge Asked to Dismiss GTA Case (November 5, 2005)
- Juvenile Violent Crime Decreases in Last 10 Years (October 11, 2005)
- Judge Sentences GTA Gamer to Death (October 7, 2005)
- Killer Convicted, Despite GTA Insanity Defense (August 10, 2005)
- Grand Theft Auto Sparks Another Game Violence Lawsuit (February 14, 2005)
Tecmo Sues Hackers Over Xbox Game Modifications
Tecmo alleges that modifications to its Games both infringe and circumvent copy protection systems in violation of the DMCA.
Sources: Gamasutra | The Register | CNet | GameSpot | Gaming Horizon | IGN | The Inquirer
Related Posts:
- Tecmo’s Nude Volleyball Lawsuit is More Dead than Alive (May 18, 2005)
- Tecmo Sues Hackers Over XBox Game Modifications (February 9, 2005)
Yahoo Sues Xfire for Patent Infringement
Text of Yahoo’s Messenger Patent
Yahoo! sues Xfire for using in-game friend finding technology that allegedly infringes Yahoo’s Messenger patent 6,699,125.
Sources: CNet News | GameSpot | GamaSutra
Related Posts:
- Yahoo!, Xfire Settle Lawsuit (February 9, 2006)
- Xfire, Yahoo! Near Terms of Patent Dispute Settlement (November 23, 2005)
- Xfire Countersues Yahoo! (March 11, 2005)
- Yahoo! Sues Xfire for Patent Infringement (February 4, 2005)
Ubisoft Expands Operations With Help from Quebec Government
Among other incentives, Emploi-Québec is contributing $6.3 million (USD $5.3 million) in financial assistance for the first three years of Ubisoft’s expansion program, as part of Ubisoft’s accelerated job creation plan.
Sources: Gamasutra | GameIndustry.biz
City of Copies: Marvel vs. NC Soft
In this GirlAdvance article, Steve Bowler includes photos of the characters in question and the discusses Marvel’s character copyright infringement case against NC Soft.
Source: GameGirlAdvance.com
3D Realms Shuts Down Duke Nukem Based Mod Project
Those working on the mod were informed by 3D Realms that it does not allow any of its intellectual property to be used in conversions or mods for other game engines, forcing the project to be shut down.
Source: GameIndustry.biz
Spurned Woman Charged after Deleting Ex’s Lineage II Gaming Data
A Japanese woman faces a charge of “illegal access” to someone else’s online account after using her ex-boyfriend’s username and password to access online game Lineage II and deleting game data, including weapons.
Sources: Gamespot | The Register | Boomtown | Guardian Unlimited
Related Posts:
- The Virtual Crimewave (September 10, 2005)
- Man Arrested for Virtual Mugging in Lineage II (August 18, 2005)
- Spurned Woman Charged after Deleting Ex’s Lineage II Gaming Data (January 20, 2005)
Immersion Corp. Wins Suit Against Sony
Text of Immersion Patent
Immersion Corp has won an $82 million patent infringement suit against Sony over two contested patents that Sony inadvertently violated in its Dual Shock controllers for PlayStation and PlayStation 2.
Sources: Gamasutra | Gamespot | EuroGamer | Immersion | BBC | Forbes | Washington Post
Take-Two, Topheavy, Sony, and Microsoft Sued over Topless Minor in The Guy Game
A young woman has filed suit against for including footage of her topless, taken during the annual spring break revels on Texas’ South Padre Island, without her legal consent. The woman was only 17 at the time, and therefore legally incapable of giving her consent to be in The Guy Game, let alone half naked.
Sources: Gamespot | EuroGamer | 1Up.com | The Register | XBox Addict | Statesman.com
Related Posts:
- Injunction Against ‘Guy Game’ Sales Upheld in Invasion of Privacy Action (August 23, 2005)
- Topheavy Enjoined from ‘Guy Game’ Sales (February 25, 2005)
- Take-Two, Topheavy, Sony and Microsoft Sued over Topless Minor in ‘The Guy Game’ (December 21, 2004)
Blizzard Cracks Down on World of Warcraft Item Selling
Both the characters and accounts of offending sellers will be deleted, and Blizzard may go so far as to take legal action against the vendors.
Source: Gamasutra
China Formally Institutes Game Rating System
An official games rating system has been formally released by the China Youth Network Association called the ‘Green Games Recommended Standard’.
Sources: Gamasutra | ChinaTechNews
Vivendi Barred From Distributing Valve Games in Cyber Cafes
Judge Zilly ruled that Sierra/Vivendi Universal Games are not authorized to distribute Valve games through cyber cafés to end users for pay-to-play activities pursuant to the parties’ current publishing agreement. Valve games such as Counter-Strike, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero and the recently released Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike: Source are all popular in cyber cafés. Judge Zilly also ruled in favor of the Valve motion regarding the contractual limitation of liability, allowing Valve to recover copyright damages for any infringement without regard to the publishing agreement’s limitation of liability clause
Sources: Gamespy PC | Yahoo! Games | ign.com | ars technica | BBC
Related Posts:
- Valve & Vivendi Universal Settle Dispute (April 29, 2005)
- Vivendi Barred from Distributing Valve Games in Cyber Cafes (November 29, 2004)
- Valve and Vivendi Sue and Counter-sue Over Distribution Agreement (September 20, 2004)
South Korea Bans Ghost Recon 2
The Korea Media Rating Board has refused to approve the release of Ubisoft’s Ghost Recon 2, claiming that the storyline within the game goes “way too far”.
Source: Gamasutra