On June 21, Canada’s Federal Office of Privacy Commissioner released its 2010 annual report on Canada’s data privacy law, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (known as “PIPEDA”). According to the report, in 2010 the Office of the Privacy Commissioner: § Received 4,793 inquiries in 2010 under PIPEDA,…
The EU “Cookie Rule,” which requires companies with European customers to get informed consent from visitors to their websites in order to use most cookies (other than those “strictly necessary” for the service requested by the consumer), went into effect on May 25. As an example of how they wanted…
On April 12, 2011, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue issued Letter Ruling 11-4 holding that a product providing a customer access to information from a Taxpayer’s database is not subject to sales or use tax where the services provided do not involve transfers of prewritten software or a license to…
A recent lawsuit by SocialApps LLC (d/b/a take(5) social and playSocial) accuses Zynga of copyright infringement, theft of trade secret and various other acts concerning Farmville. Farmville is one of the most widely played and profitable social games, with around 80 million users and was released in June 2009. SocialApps allegedly developed…
Copying within the games industry is prevalent. Some people attribute this to the fact that this is just the way it is and has always been within the industry. This is often premised on the notion that the “idea” for a game is not protectable. But as the game market…
As we previously posted, Viacom is appealing to the Second Circuit its summary judgment loss to YouTube (and its parent Google) of a billion-dollar copyright infringement suit. Last June, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that YouTube is entitled to safe harbor protection under…
On of the announcements coming out of E3 is that GameStop and Virgin Gaming have formed a partnership to power online video gaming tournaments. According to the announcement, Virgin Gaming will be: The preferred online tournament provider for featured console game releases sold in U.S. GameStop locations and through GameStop.com.…
Recently the controlling interest in Playtika Ltd., the Israeli social and casual game development company behind the Facebook games Slotomania and Farkle Pro, has reportedly been acquired by Caesars Entertainment Corporation for approximately $90 million USD. Playtika was founded in late 2010 and since then has garnered around 9 million users. Playtika’s games,…
While the National Endowment for the Arts (“NEA”) is traditionally known for providing grants for various “traditional” artistic endeavors, a recent change in its eligibility requirements expands its coverage to certain categories of digital media as well. Specifically, the NEA has modified its mandate to include providing grants for innovative…
Time Warner’s recent earnings report shows that a video game helped drive its earnings, according to a recent report by Investor Place. According to the report, the video game LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, is based on George Lucas’ long-running science fiction brand, and enables players to control Star…