Posts from — February 2005

Topheavy Enjoined from Guy Game Sales

February 25, 2005 at 5:27 pm - by Dale Dietrich

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)

Categories: Injunctions, Personality Rights Cases, Sexuality Cases

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EA Hit By Second Employee (Leander Hasty) Lawsuit

February 21, 2005 at 5:26 pm - by Dale Dietrich

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):

Second Employee (Canulti) Unpaid Overtime Suit Brought Against Activision (July 20, 2006)

Activision (Erimez):

Another Unpaid Overtime Lawsuit - This Time Against Activision (May 2, 2006)

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.

Categories: Employment Law Cases

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Square Enix Bans Over 800 PlayOnline Accounts

February 16, 2005 at 5:23 pm - by Dale Dietrich

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.

Sources: GamaSutra | RPGamer

Categories: Cheating, Player Bans

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Grand Theft Auto Sparks Another Game Violence Lawsuit

February 14, 2005 at 5:21 pm - by Dale Dietrich

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)

Categories: Game Violence Cases

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Tecmo Sues Hackers Over Xbox Game Modifications

February 9, 2005 at 5:10 pm - by Dale Dietrich

Tecmo alleges that modifications to its Games both infringe and circumvent copy protection systems in violation of the DMCA.

Tecmo’s Nude Volleyball Lawsuit is More Dead than Alive (May 18, 2005)
Tecmo Sues Hackers Over XBox Game Modifications (February 9, 2005)

Categories: DMCA-TPM Cases, Modding Cases

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Yahoo Sues Xfire for Patent Infringement

February 4, 2005 at 5:08 pm - by Dale Dietrich

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)

Categories: Patent Cases

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Ubisoft Expands Operations With Help from Quebec Government

February 1, 2005 at 5:07 pm - by Dale Dietrich

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

Categories: Canadian Developers, Game Industry Incentives

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City of Copies: Marvel vs. NC Soft

February 1, 2005 at 4:22 pm - by Dale Dietrich

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.