ESA Stoked About Pirate's Arrest

The ESA, with its keen interest in stopping piracy, has begun highlighting specific instances of law enforcement stopping malicious pirates. Hailing from my hometown of San Diego, CA, Frederick Brown is facing 10 felony-level counts including, "grand theft, computer crime, and trafficking counterfeit marks." Upon raiding his house, the law found over a thousand counterfeit discs and mod chips to boot.

One Less Pirate in San Diego

Imagine going to jail for a really long time over mod chips and video games...I hope he made a lot of money for a lawyer before he got busted; apparently he made enough to post $100,000 bail.

South Korea Begins Taxing Virtual Money Transactions

Coming to me via Law of the Game (shout out to a new VG law blogger), South Korea has begun imposing a Value-Added tax to all virtual goods sold in real world transactions. I could try and explain, but Mark Methenitis does a great job, so check it:

VAT implemented: WoW

A report on how the US will approach this issue is due in about a month.

Video Game Addiction is not a Legit Disease...Yet

The American Medical Association concluded at their most recent conference that video game addiction is not a disease on par with alcoholism or other addiction-based afflictions. While not directly relevant to the law yet, one can only imagine the plaintiff's lawyer when suing a video game company because Timmy went ballistic, citing the fact that poor Timmy is a victim of his disease, this addiction that is video games.

Video Games, like Pot, is not Addicting...but combine the two...

If VG addiction is placed on a list of diseases, I'm going to scream. It seems like anybody with a passion could be classified as having a disease associated with the passion. Do you play the piano all of the time? Musicianship, yeah my brother has that and all of that music he makes is ruining his life. My buddy likes to draw a bit too much? Artistry, its a real plague on society. Oh, and my friend who is obsessed with basketball? Athleticism. When he isn't playing, he is watching or reading about it. Don't make fun...it is a serious disease.

Seriously though, I guess video games do occupy a strange niche in that some people literally play them all day. If you play so many games that you cannot handle your daily biz, you've got a problem...an addiction even.

Lone Star, Patent Troll, Stalks Nintendo

Claiming that the Wii utilizes their patent on small capacitors in a semi-conducting circuit, Lone Star, a company based out of an Austin, Texas law firm, is suing Nintendo in the hallowed Federal Eastern District of Texas courts. Known for its ultra-plaintiff friendly patent decisions, the Eastern District has seen many patent infringement cases, including the American Video Graphics lawsuit covered in my first blog entry (second for those who are counting). Nintendo was, of course, unaware of any such infringement. Lone Star has been successful against other industry big wigs like Texas Instrument and Broadcom, but it is unclear how successful they will be here. Looks like another, "this patent is too complicated, and I (Nintendo) would have to give up too many secrets...I'll just settle." --> Trollery at its finest.

Nintendo's Getting Trolled

Immersion Sued By Microsoft for Breach of Contract

Reaching into its limitless coffers, Microsoft has instituted legal action against Immersion for breach of contract regarding their settlement of a suit from 2002. Apparently, Immersion has not been paying for certain IP and Licensing arrangements provided for in the settlement in which Immersion received $26 million.

Immersion in hot water again

How come the only thing I ever hear about Immersion is that they are in some lawsuit? Nevertheless, they have no fear taking on the big guys...

Manhunt 2 Release Suspended

Following an unprecedented amount of resistance from ratings boards across the globe, Take-Two has decided to suspend the release of its Manhunt 2, mostly because it could not release it on any of the platforms it was programmed for. Developed for the Wii and PS3, the game received an Adults Only rating in the US. Sony and Nintendo will not authorize the sale of AO games for their PS3 and Wii consoles respectively. M2 was also condemned by the UK ratings board, stating, "Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing." The AO rating also means that most commercial supplier will not carry the game, including Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Gamestop.

Manhunt 2 gets Axed

These developments do not shock me. This game really seemed to push the limits of what might be acceptable in a video game violence-wise. We all love the interactivity of the Wiimote, but if you saw your kid playing this game it would actually be more disturbing than watching him blow up the National Guard with a Rocket launcher in GTA III. You simulate murdering people with all sorts of instruments with a simple flick of the wrist. It almost seems like it would be weird to invite someone over to show them your new game that kicks ass, only to have them watch you saw some dude's head off. I'm 25 and would be a bit repulsed by the game (though I have to say that I can imagine at least one of my friends getting really into this game). Then I imagine coming home to see my ten year old brother playing, and I think enough is enough. The rating is warranted, but frankly I wouldn't be surprised if the rating would ultimately appeal to some players: after all, Rockstar and Take-Two say that they are catering to the older crowd. Are they actually, or are they just cigarette companies in disguise?

NY Legislators Carry Video Game Bill Past Round 1

New York, in a continuing effort to succeed where so many other states have failed, has successfully passed a piece of video game legislation through its Senate and Assembly. The bill would make selling mature games to minors a felony and force consoles to have parental control measures (which all next-gen systems already have). I have reported on this bill earlier, and it, like its predecessors, seems to be making good progress...until some activist judge comes along and declares it unconstitutional.

Prediction: NY VG Legislation violates 1st Amendment...just a prediction