CHINESE COURT UPHOLDS CONVICTION FOR STEALING VIRTUAL PROPERTY
Last year a Chinese court convicted a man for selling passwords and in-game property which he had stolen from players of the online game "Da Xihua Xiyou". Another court has just upheld the initial decision, stating that the robbed players had spent time, energy and money acquiring and adding value to their virtual property. The accused had sold the stolen (virtual) goods for about $500; he was fined about $620 for his illegal activities.
Coverage at:http://shorl.com/henumuhyropri(ZDNet)
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STAR WARS KID SETTLES
Those of you who regularly read our postings know that Dave and Chris are embroiled in an ongoing dispute about whether the USS Enterprise could defeat an Imperial Star Destroyer in a one-on-one fight. Dave says no; Chris says yes.
That’s just one of the reasons why Dave is affectionately known to his colleagues here at Davis as “the Star Wars Kidâ€. (The fact that he has a life-sized effigy of Darth Vader in his office probably helps too.)
Anyway, three years ago our office was abuzz with a rumour that Dave was prominently featured on the internet in a home-made video, twirling lightsabers about with all the dexterity of a newborn fawn.
Sadly, we were all disappointed to learn that in fact there was (can you believe it?) ANOTHER Star Wars kid. The one in the video was much younger and much less of a video game lawyer. But he was equally good at twirling lightsabers.
What happened to that Star Wars kid is he shot a video of himself doing the Jedi Knight thing, but unfortunately the video fell into the hands of three schoolmates who posted it on the internet. The video soon became wildly famous, and as a result the kid endured years of humiliation. So, like any good Canadian Star Wars Kid would do, he sued. The case was due to be heard next week, but the parties have recently settled for an undisclosed amount.
You’re probably wondering how this is a video game law case. It’s not really (although we could make a point here about privacy and personality rights and the risks of including unauthorized content in video games). It’s just that this story touched so close to home for our local Star Wars hero that we couldn’t help but report it.
Coverage is here: http://www.shorl.com/fykyhyfrypypa(Globe& Mail)![]("http://www.davis.ca/community/aggbug.aspx?PostID=562")
Australian Gaming Industry Won't Fight Ban on"Marc Ecko's Getting Up"
In February of this year, we reported that “Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressureâ€, after having originally been classified MA15+ by the Federal Government's Classification Review Board, had since been effectively banned from sale when the board decided to remove its classification.
The board’s main concern with the game is the idea that it teaches players about graffiti and encourages criminal behavior.
The move was the first time that the board had revoked classification for a computer game and Australia is the only country in the world to have banned the game. Given this situation, it was expected, at the time, that the Australian computer gaming industry would contest the board’s decision.
However, the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia (IEAA) announced this week that it has decided against launching a court challenge against the board’s decision.
The IEAA released a statement saying that while it felt there were strong legal grounds to challenge the decision, costs were a factor.
"Our decision to not appeal this matter in the Federal Court was made on the basis of the costs involved in establishing these facts in a court of law," IEAA CEO Mr Chris Hanlon said in a statement.
"The IEAA also believes it is more constructive to work with the Attorney General's Department to improve the classification process".
Coverage at:http://shorl.com/bidafrifimogro
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British Man Jailed For Mod Chip Possession
A man named of Essex, in south east England, was convicted for handling stolen goods, and has also received an extended sentence for being in possession of modified game console chips.
Investigators from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), a British trade organization, were called to provide evidence at the trial with regard to chipping offences. With the input of the ELSPA investigators, the man was successfully convicted of possessing the chips and received an extra month to his sentence, taking his full prison term to eighteen months.
"We're pleased we could assist in this case," said Michael Rawlinson, deputy director general of ELSPA. "The modification of games consoles, more commonly known as 'chipping', is a criminal offence and so is the possession of modified chips. The successful resolution of this case highlights the very real threat of prosecution and a criminal record to anyone tempted to become involved."
The question of mod chip use in the UK has long been a source of consternation amongst hardcore game players, since they are widely used to play imported U.S. and Japanese game titles which are either not released or significantly delayed in Britain.
Many countries have recognized the use of mod chips for importing games, notably Australia, Italy and Spain where concerns over the chips' dual use for piracy were overcome by concerns over free trade, with game prices in many smaller markets making importing titles a significantly cheaper option.
The questions surrounding importing and mod chips may be resolved to some degree following the release of the PlayStation 3, which Sony has indicated may be region free. However, publishers will still be given the chance to region lock titles, as they are on the already region-free Xbox and Xbox 360, which could still lead to mod chips being used for non-piratical purposes.
Coverage at:http://shorl.com/hygidrirufridra
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THE W.O.W. COMPLAINT
In anearlier posting, we reported that the author of an unauthorized guide to World of Warcraft was suing Blizzard Entertainment, Vivendi Universal and the Entertainment Software Association for "improperly" barring him from auctioning copies of his guide on EBay.
For your reading pleasure, here is a copy of the author’s complaint: http://www.citizen.org/documents/003-Complaint.pdf
Enjoy!![]("http://www.davis.ca/community/aggbug.aspx?PostID=538")
WOMEN PREFER IT CASUAL
A recent study by the Consumer Electronics Association found that among game players between the ages of 25 and 34 woman outnumber men almost 2 to 1. Women in that bracket were found to be less interested in console games (traditionally associated to violence and/or competition between players) and more so in “casual games†(e.g. puzzle games like Tetris, card games). At least Nintendo is said to be paying attention and is set to service the casual game market.
coverage at:http://shorl.com/huluhunydusta
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CHEATERS SETTLE
In anearlier postingwe reported that the owner of cheatcc.com (a site dedicated to posting cheat codes for video games) recently sued a competitor, Crave Online Media, for copying his postings and replicating them on their website. He claims Crave Online Media violated his copyright in the postings.
We now understand that the parties have settled on undisclosed terms. Which is too bad, really, because we wanted to see how the court would deal with the question of copyright ownership. The plaintiff (of course) was not the author of the actual cheat codes, so he wouldn’t own copyright in them. Perhaps his claim was based on any original content he added to his site in addition to the cheat codes, but we probably won’t ever know for sure.
The case is Allison v. Crave Online Media, 1:2005cv01186 (USDC, District of Colorado).![]("http://www.davis.ca/community/aggbug.aspx?PostID=565")
