EA, Atari Sue Over Videogame Copying Software

Thanks to the Monterey Herald/AP for its news story regarding EA, Atari, and VU Games' lawsuit against the makers of the Games X Copy backup software. The article explains: "The federal lawsuit [PDF version], filed Tuesday in New York, alleges that Games X Copy software by 321 Studios Inc. of suburban St. Louis violates copyright laws by illegally cracking copy-protection systems used by [PC] game makers." Doug Lowenstein of the ESA trade body, also backing the lawsuits, explains: "I wouldn't get into speculating on dollar losses here. What's at stake here is a rather important legal principle - that products with no purpose other than to circumvent copyright protection are illegal under the DMCA." The piece also notes that "Federal judges in New York and California have barred 321 from marketing... [similar] DVD-cloning software - a victory for movie studios, which contended that such products violate the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act."

Comments

Good on the DMCA

[pVoid]

I'm sure a lot of people will find this just another excuse to shit on the DMCA, but let's admit that for once, it's actually useful.

I mean, sure, there's a limit to how much authority we want in our lives, but if you're gonna pirate a game, it might as well be something underground... I find all these software companies (like 321) very fucking hypocritical...

There's being an 3733t haxxor group the takes pride in cracking stuff (whether that's good or bad - I have no comment), then there's being a company who's hypocritical enough to say "games aren't worth paying money for... oh btw, use our software so we can make some money"...