JOLT Digest

By Andrew Segna

Google Acquires Motorola Mobility for $12.5 Billion

Google announced on August 15, 2011 that it will acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion in cash. Ars Technica reports that this purchase was motivated in part by Google’s desire to acquire Motorola’s patents and to protect its Android mobile platform, as this deal will give Google control of more than 17,000 patents in the mobile arena and 7,000 patent applications. This acquisition comes in light of Google accusing Microsoft, Apple, Oracle, and other companies of attacking Google and Android by acquiring Novell and Nortel patents.

Missouri Federal Court Reject LegalZoom’s Motion for Summary Judgment on Whether LegalZoom Violates Unauthorized Practice Law

As reported on Eric Goldman’s Technology and Marketing Law Blog, the District Court for the Western District of Missouri rejected LegalZoom’s motion for summary judgment against accusations that the website dealt in the unauthorized practice of law. LegalZoom offers both blank legal forms and a service in which customers answer a series of questions, which provides LegalZoom’s software with the information necessary to create a completed legal document for the customer. The court did not have an issue with the blank forms. However, the court found that there was a question of whether LegalZoom, through the questionnaire, did more than just allow a customer to pick various wordings of a document.

Activists Protest Bay Area Rapid Transit’s Decision to Cut Mobile Phone Access in Subway Stations

According to the Guardian, a protest occurred in the Civic Center subway station in San Francisco on the night of August 15, 2011 over the decision by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) to cut mobile phone access on August 5 in anticipation of a protest against police shootings that threatened to disrupt rush hour commute. Anonymous, the online activist group, broke into BART websites and organized the August 15 protest. BART did not cut off mobile access on August 15 but did temporarily shut down the Civic Center station and three other stations.

Minecraft Developer Vows to Oppose Trademark Infringement Suit

Markus “Notch” Persson, the creator of the popular PC game Minecraft, asserted that he would oppose video game publisher Besthesda Softworks’ claim of trademark infringement, as reported by Ars Technica. Besthesda claims that the title of Persson’s new game, Scrolls, infringes its trademark on its own video games series, The Elder Scrolls. Persson initially responded to the allegations, which he called “bogus,” by challenging Bethesda to a match of the video game Quake III to determine who was right.

Supreme Court Holds California Ban on Violent Video Games Violates First Amendment
By Raquel Acosta – Edited by Dorothy Du

Brown v. EMA, No. 08-1448 (June 27, 2011)
Slip Opinion via supremecourt.gov

The Supreme Court affirmed a Ninth Circuit decision that had found that a California law that restricted the sale or rental of violent video games to minors did not comport with the First Amendment and permanently enjoined its enforcement.

Justice Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.  In a 7-2 decision, the Court upheld the lower court decisions and repealed California Assembly Bill 1179 (2005), Cal. Civ. Code Ann. §§1746-1746.5 (West 2009) (“the Act”) (a law passed in 2005 by the California State Legislature which required more stringent rating standards on video games), banned the sale of violent video games to anyone under the age of 18, and imposed a maximum $1000 per violation.  The Supreme Court held that video games were afforded the same First Amendment protections as other forms of communication.  Areas in which restrictions on free speech are allowed are limited to obscenity, incitement, and fighting words.  In so holding, the Court rejected the Government’s argument that a balancing test may be used to justify restrictions, holding that a legislature may not add new categories of unprotected speech.

The Virtual World Law Blog provides an overview of the case.  David Kopel, writing for the Volokh Conspiracy, examines the “the weapons effect” (the theory that being exposed to aggressive stimuli will make ordinary individuals more inclined towards aggressive behavior) and uses the Brown decision in his critique of legislative anti-gun laws. Wikipedia provides a thorough analysis of the case and is informative as to the case history and the context in which Brown arises. SCOTUSblog contains an interesting commentary on the litigation strategies used.

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Sony Settles Lawsuit with PlayStation 3 Hacker
By Vivian Tao – Edited by Chinh Vo

Sony Computer Entm’t Am. v. Hotz, No. CV11-0167 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 11, 2011)
Final Judgment hosted by Electronic Frontier Foundation

On April 11, 2011, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California entered a final judgment for plaintiff Sony Computer Entertainment America (“Sony”), granting Sony a permanent injunction against defendant George Hotz. The injunction prevents Hotz, a notorious hacker, from engaging in any unauthorized access to Sony products, circumventing security measures in those products, or trafficking and posting any information, service, or product that would lead to such circumvention.

While a motion to dismiss regarding Hotz’s claim over lack of personal jurisdiction is pending, this final judgment comes on the heels of a March 31 settlement agreement between Sony and Hotz. Both parties have agreed to accept this judgment and to waive their rights to appeal.

Ars Technica provides an overview of the case. PC World criticizes the judgment, stating that the injunction’s effect will be constrained by other sites that have already listed and can continue to include information from Hotz’s hacking efforts.

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Written by Andrew Segna
Edited by Jonathan Allred
Editorial Policy

On October 13, 2010, Valve, a major video game developer, announced Dota 2, its new title, for which it registered the trademark “Dota” with the USPTO on August 6, 2010. This game is a sequel to the extremely popular Defense of the Ancients (abbreviated “Dota”), a“mod” that independent videogame developers created by modifying the game Warcraft III. The trademark registration evoked concern among members of the industry and consumers, especially in light of recent overly aggressive trademark enforcement by Tim Langdell, developer and president of the video game company Edge Games. As developers and publishers acquire and assert control over trademarks, members of the video game community are concerned that mod creators and independent developers could feel intimidated and, fearing liability, not take on certain projects. Naturally, those concerned by aggressive trademark enforcement would prefer that the trademark rights not be granted in the first place. However, even where the law is not able to prevent video game companies from obtaining and enforcing trademark rights in game titles and assets, private policing by members of the video game world can prevent overly aggressive trademark enforcement from disrupting the industry. (more…)

By Matthew Becker
Edited by Matt Gelfand
Editorial Policy

The application of copyright in the space of virtual worlds has been a subject of increasing consideration in the legal community over the past few years.[i] Literature on this subject has often centered on two focal points: the existing laws and approaches that are likely to produce successful litigation in this evolving arena; and the idea that the best approach to settling copyright disputes might be to try to find recourse through the entity that owns and operates the virtual world, rather than through litigation. Less common, however, is a substantive analysis of why the existing copyright regime generally fails to provide a suitable venue for addressing grievances, and how it could be reformed to better suit the virtual context. The purpose of this article is to foster such a discussion by exploring the disconnect between the copyright regime in the United States, which has evolved in a physical environment, and the distinct problems and requirements that arise in a virtual environment. In the process, this article will explore three options for ameliorating the situation – two that are legal in nature, and one that is extra-legal. (more…)