Massively http://massively.joystiq.com Massively http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Massively http://massively.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[NCsoft sued for making Lineage II too darned addictive]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/08/20/ncsoft-sued-for-making-lineage-ii-too-darned-addicting/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/08/20/ncsoft-sued-for-making-lineage-ii-too-darned-addicting/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/08/20/ncsoft-sued-for-making-lineage-ii-too-darned-addicting/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Can a video game publisher be successfully sued for releasing a game that makes players want to play it compulsively? That's the question of the hour in the USA, as Lineage II player Craig Smallwood levied a $3 million negligence suit against NCsoft for making the game too addictive. Smallwood found himself playing the MMO for over 20,000 hours in the last five years, to the point where he is unable to function normally in real life -- and he claims it's NCsoft's fault for not warning him in advance. Smallwood's gameplay averaged around 11 hours per day during that period.

Surprisingly, a federal judge has allowed the suit to proceed against the South Korean publisher, stating that "the court finds that plaintiff has stated a claim for both negligence and gross negligence." NCsoft has appealed and asked the judge to dismiss the case. The situation gets more interesting when you consider that Smallwood had his Lineage II accounts banned for alleged grey market RMT activity, although he claims that was a ploy by NCsoft to force players like himself to move over to Aion.

Video game addiction is no new issue, to be sure, but it's interesting that this case seeks to shift the blame from the player to the game company itself. This raises a whole host of new questions. Should publishers be required to slap their products with warning labels? Is there no personal responsibility when it comes to playing MMORPGs? We will have to wait and see if Smallwood's suit succeeds, and what, if any, fallout may occur from the attempt.

MassivelyNCsoft sued for making Lineage II too darned addictive originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Aug 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>addictingaddictionaioncraig-smallwoodlawsuitlineage-2lineage-iimmo-addictionncsoftnegligencermtsuitvideo-game-addictionFri, 20 Aug 2010 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Worlds.com vs. NCSoft moves from Texas to California]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/04/27/worlds-com-vs-ncsoft-moves-from-texas-to-california/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/04/27/worlds-com-vs-ncsoft-moves-from-texas-to-california/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/04/27/worlds-com-vs-ncsoft-moves-from-texas-to-california/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Intellectual Property lawyer Ross A. Dannenberg has reported on his website, Patent Arcade, that the patent dispute between Worlds.com and NCSoft will be moved from the Eastern Texas district to the Northern California district as of 4th May 2009. Worlds.com is persuing NCSoft over alleged infringements of patents that it owns.

The eastern Texas district has acquired a reputation for being the ideal court for this kind of patent due to favorable attitudes to plaintiffs, resulting in a practice known as forum shopping being used to maximize the chance of a successful outcome. On December 5th 2008 the Texas Supreme Court issued a ruling that severely limits the discretion available to a trial court to determine if a case should be dismissed if an adequate alternate forum exists. This should result in cases that have little or no ties to that particular area of Texas being forced to be heard in a more appropriate court, which is likely to be the case in this instance.

You can catch up with all of our coverage on this action here.

MassivelyWorlds.com vs. NCSoft moves from Texas to California originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>lawlegalNCSoftpatentsuedsuitworlds.comworlds.com-vs-ncsoftMon, 27 Apr 2009 13:30:00 EST<![CDATA[World of Warcraft and Second Life are next, says Worlds.com CEO]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/12/world-of-warcraft-and-second-life-are-next-says-worlds-com-ceo/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/12/world-of-warcraft-and-second-life-are-next-says-worlds-com-ceo/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/12/world-of-warcraft-and-second-life-are-next-says-worlds-com-ceo/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

As you are probably already well aware, virtual environment business Worlds.com is currently engaging in a legal action against MMOG developer/operator NCsoft for patent infringment, based on a patent that more or less covers almost every client-server based multiplayer game and virtual environment out there.

It doesn't end there, however. Worlds.com CEO Thom Kidrin has told Eric Krangel at Business Insider that if the suit against NCsoft succeeds, industry leaders World of Warcraft and Second Life are next. The company's legal representatives in this action, General Patent Corporation also yesterday announced that Worlds.com has been granted a third patent that extends the reach of their existing two.

Continue reading World of Warcraft and Second Life are next, says Worlds.com CEO

MassivelyWorld of Warcraft and Second Life are next, says Worlds.com CEO originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>alexander-poltorakbreakingeric-krangelgeneral-patent-corporationinfringementlawlawsuitncsoftpatentpatent-trollpaul-lernersuitthom-kidrinworlds.comworlds.com-vs-ncsoftThu, 12 Mar 2009 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[NCsoft prepares the defense against Worlds.com]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/01/ncsoft-prepares-the-defense-against-worlds-com/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/01/ncsoft-prepares-the-defense-against-worlds-com/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/01/ncsoft-prepares-the-defense-against-worlds-com/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

As we announced and analyzed earlier in the week, NCsoft is being sued by Worlds.com for patent infringement on recently granted patent 7,181,690 -- the system and method for enabling users to interact in a virtual space.

An NCsoft representative recently spoke with the Korea Times, saying that the offices in Korea have not begun analyzing the patent, nor have they received the court papers yet. However, the company does look to be preparing a defense, according to Virtual Worlds News.

"We can't comment on potential litigation except to say that NCsoft takes all legal action seriously -- even if the company believes a lawsuit has no merit," an NCsoft representative told Virtual Worlds News. "We intend to defend ourselves vigorously"

For the full story, head on over to Virtual Worlds News and check out their write up.

MassivelyNCsoft prepares the defense against Worlds.com originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 01 Jan 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>breakinginfringementlawlawsuitncsoftpatentpatent-trollsuitworlds.comworlds.com-vs-ncsoftThu, 01 Jan 2009 13:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The patent that stole Christmas]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/12/30/the-patent-that-stole-christmas/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/12/30/the-patent-that-stole-christmas/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/12/30/the-patent-that-stole-christmas/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

As you probably know by now, Worlds.com has filed suit against NCsoft for infringement of one of two key patents that it holds. We talked about those patents and Worlds.com's securing the services of General Patent Corporation for the purposes of enforcement earlier this month.

We can learn a few things from the suit against NCsoft, including (we think) how Worlds.com/General Patent sees its own position with respect to these claims (they don't seem to think it's as firm as it could be). You might also be wondering about prior art (which is abundant). Well prior art, in and of itself, is simply not enough. Not on its own.

Continue reading The patent that stole Christmas

MassivelyThe patent that stole Christmas originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>featuredgeneral-patent-corporationjoystiqfeatureslegalmmo-industryncsoftopinionpatentsuitvirtual-worldsworlds.comworlds.com-vs-ncsoftTue, 30 Dec 2008 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Worlds.com files suit against NCsoft for patent infringement]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/12/29/worlds-com-files-suit-against-ncsoft-for-patent-infringement/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/12/29/worlds-com-files-suit-against-ncsoft-for-patent-infringement/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/12/29/worlds-com-files-suit-against-ncsoft-for-patent-infringement/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


You might remember earlier in the month we reported on Worlds.com placing down patents on two technologies that we commonly use in the MMO industry -- scalable chat and system and method of enabling users of interacting in a virtual space -- and how much havoc this could play with our favorite games. We also made the assumption that lawyers were going to begin marching from Worlds.com with suits in hand, beginning their demands of money.

It turns out our assumption was right. Worlds.com has filed the necessary paper work to bring a suit against one of the big names in our industry: NCsoft. The suit was filed on Christmas Eve, December 24th, and charged NCsoft with infringement of patent 7,181,690, the system and method of enabling users of interacting in a virtual space, which was granted in early 2007. The suit cites all NCsoft titles, from Lineage to Aion, as the grounds for the patent infringement.

As a small side note, patent 7,181,690 was filed in 2000 -- over a year after EverQuest launched and dominated the fledgling industry with somewhere around 300,000 subscribers.

We contacted Worlds.com for comment on the 14th of December in connection with our first story, but they have not returned our requests for comment.

We'll keep our ears to the ground as more developments appear in this story.

Update: We have additional commentary on this patent suit.

MassivelyWorlds.com files suit against NCsoft for patent infringement originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>aionaion-tower-of-eternitybreakingchristmas-eveeverquestlineagencsoftpatentsuedsuitworlds.comworlds.com-vs-ncsoftMon, 29 Dec 2008 15:00:00 EST