Madden NFL 'creator' sues EA for potentially billions |
- Madden NFL 'creator' sues EA for potentially billions
- Amazon mulling mobile payment service?
- Baidu to compensate song writers for MP3 downloads
- MSI announces AM3+ compatibility for its AM3 boards
- Facebook in $1 billion lawsuit over 'Third Intifada' page
- Netflix adding Sons of Anarchy, Glee to streaming library
- Movie studios to begin VoD service for films still in theaters
- Microsoft chief strategist doubts longevity of tablets
Madden NFL 'creator' sues EA for potentially billions Posted: 01 Apr 2011 10:54 PM PDT Man claims that Electronic Arts failed to compensate him for sales of one of the most popular video games franchises in history. Robin Antonick is suing the company for "tens of millions" in royalties as well as potentially billions from profits made by EA from over 85 million copies of Madden NFL Football titles sold. Antonick says he created the mega-popular game. The first version was created for the Commodore 64, MS DOS and Apple II when it was released in 1988. Antonick signed a development contract with EA in 1986, which allegedly entitles him to royalties on derivative versions of the game. He says that for years afterwards, he worked in a cubicle a few feet from EA founder Trip Hawkins. "Only recently, as a result of publicity surrounding the 20th Anniversary of the 'Madden' videogame did Antonick become aware that Electronic Arts did not independently develop subsequent versions of its Madden NFL software," says the complaint. "Instead, according to recent statements by Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins, the current generation of software apparently derived from software developed by Antonick." Antonick claims that he has not received a royalty payment since 1992. |
Amazon mulling mobile payment service? Posted: 01 Apr 2011 10:14 PM PDT Bloomberg is reporting that Amazon is joining a list of other tech firms in plotting a mobile payments service. Based on near-field communication (NFC) technology, the demand for services that allow payments to be made at brick and mortar stores using a smartphone could be considerable. For that reason, Google, Microsoft, Nokia and several others have reportedly been developing their own offerings. Users of such services could hold their handset near an NFC-equipped register and use an application to make payment for goods and services, or to potentially carry out other tasks such as redeem coupons or use loyalty points. Amazon is making bold inroads into the mobile marketplace. It recently launched its own Android Appstore to the dismay of Apple, which is suing the company for the use of "App Store" in its name. It also unveiled a music streaming/locker service just earlier this week that works with Android. According to research firm Gartner, 340 million mobile users will carry out mobile transactions in 2014, with a value of $245 billion. |
Baidu to compensate song writers for MP3 downloads Posted: 01 Apr 2011 10:14 PM PDT Baidu reaches agreement with music group to pay for MP3 downloads through its web site. Baidu had been in talks with the Music Copyright Society of China, a group that has previously sued the Chinese search giant, to establish a partnership to protect legal digital music. The payment will go directly to the Music Copyright Society of China. The money only covers the songwriters behind lyrics in the downloads however, and no record companies will receive any. Baidu spokesman Kaiser Kuo said to pay labels would require a completely different agreement. "We will also provide the [Music Copyright Society of China] playback and download data, so that they will be able to have some idea of what's actually being downloaded," Kuo said. Baidu has been the focus of a lot of anti-piracy groups for years due to the popularity of its MP3 search service in China, which helps users to download copyrighted music for free. Some experts claim the MP3 service was the offering that brought Baidu to the top in China, and now 75.5 percent of the country's search market is held by Baidu. "The changes Baidu is making could create a really wide-reaching music platform through the Internet that will lead to profits for those in the music industry," said Liu Ping, the vice general secretary for the Music Copyright Society of China. "This has never happened before in China." |
MSI announces AM3+ compatibility for its AM3 boards Posted: 01 Apr 2011 10:14 PM PDT MSI says AM3 boards have easy upgrade solution to support AM3+. The company officially announced compatibility with all AMD AM3+ multi-core processors on its AMD AM3 mainboards today, saying that it will be made possible by way of a quick BIOS update. AMD AM3+ multi-core processors are built on the latest 32nm process for significant technical specs: additional cores, a larger L3 cache memory capacity, and the built-in 2nd generation Turbo Core technology boosts overall performance. Current MSI board owners can download the latest BIOS updates to enable use of the latest AM3+ processors on their respective product pages. In addition, all future shipments of existing AM3 motherboards will have their BIOS updated from the factory before being sent out. MSI AM3 mainboards with support for AMD AM3+ multi-core processors and corresponding BIOS versions: |
Facebook in $1 billion lawsuit over 'Third Intifada' page Posted: 01 Apr 2011 10:14 PM PDT Lawsuit against the social network giant and CEO Mark Zuckerberg seeks more than $1 billion in damages. It was reported earlier this week that Facebook shut down a "Third Intifada" page, which called for violence against Israel. The page quickly picked up about 340,000 fans. Facebook removed it several days after a letter to Zuckerberg from Israeli Public Diplomacy Minister Yuli Edelstein urged him to do so. The company said the page was left alone at first because it specifically called for peaceful protests. It was later removed as the tone changed to the incitement of violence instead, which violates Facebook's terms of service. Now, a lawsuit filed against Facebook in the U.S. claims it showed negligence by not quickly responding to requests to take down the controversial page. The lawsuit has been filed by Larry Klayman, a controversial American activist. "While Facebook has accomplished a lot of good, it can, as in this instance, be used for nefarious and evil purposes. Defendants Zuckerberg's and Facebook's callous and greedy actions in not taking down the page, but willfully allowing it to stay up for many days, has caused huge damage, for which they must be held accountable, so as to prevent this from ever happening again. Facebook has not commented to the media about the lawsuit but had released a statement about the Facebook page in question, and the reason why it was removed from the social networkings site. "The Page, The Third Palestinian Intifada, began as a call for peaceful protest, even though it used a term that has been associated with violence in the past. In addition, the administrators initially removed comments that promoted violence. However, after the publicity of the Page, more comments deteriorated to direct calls for violence. Eventually, the administrators also participated in these calls. After administrators of the page received repeated warnings about posts that violated our policies, we removed the Page. |
Netflix adding Sons of Anarchy, Glee to streaming library Posted: 01 Apr 2011 09:28 PM PDT Netflix and Twentieth Century Fox have expanded their current streaming deal, adding the very popular series Glee and Sons of Anarchy to the company's "Watch Instantly" streaming library. Starting today, season 1 of Glee and both seasons of SOA are available for streaming. Additionally, catalog series like "Ally McBeal" and the "Wonder Years" have been added. Says Fox: Our expanded non-exclusive streaming arrangement with Netflix maintains Fox's flexibility to effectively manage both the content we offer, and the appropriate window of availability relative to our other distribution partnerships.We look forward to working with Netflix and our other partners to further enhance the choices available to audiences. And adds Netflix: We've worked closely with Fox for the last year to provide our members access to some of the studio's greatest TV franchises and library of both contemporary and classic movies. Our members love TV shows, and making such pop-culture hits like 'Glee' and 'Sons of Anarchy' available to watch instantly reinforces our commitment to provide them a wider selection of programs." Before the expansion, the deal added many Fox shows to Netflix such as "Lie to Me," "24," "Prison Break," "Arrested Development," "Buffy The Vampire Slayer," and the "X-Files." |
Movie studios to begin VoD service for films still in theaters Posted: 01 Apr 2011 12:05 AM PDT The major movie studios, Warner, Sony, Universal and Fox have agreed to launch a new VoD service that will allow for rentals of movies that are still in theaters, or those that are just finishing their runs. Dubbed "Home Premiere," the studios will offer movies 60-days after their theatrical launch, and at $30 a piece. The viewing period will be 48-72 hours, depending on the studio behind the release. Home Premiere will launch next month through DirecTV exclusively. Some cable companies, like Comcast, will get the service soon, as well. The first two movies available will be "Unknown" and "Just Go With It," says Variety. |
Microsoft chief strategist doubts longevity of tablets Posted: 31 Mar 2011 11:28 PM PDT Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer Craig Mundie has made some interesting comments this week, claiming that he remains doubtful that media tablets are anything more than a fad. The officer does admit that Microsoft was very late on tablets, however, and should have introduced an optimized OS earlier. Says Mundie (via Xbit): I think there's an important distinction - and frankly one we did not jump on at Microsoft fast enough - between mobile and portable. Mobile is something that you want to use while you are moving, and portable is something that you move and then use. These are going to bump into one another a little bit and so today you can see tablets and pads and other things that are starting to live in the space in between. Personally I don't know whether that space will be a persistent one or not. [...] I don't know whether the big screen tablet pad category is going to remain with us or not. Microsoft is expected to launch its Windows 8 tablet-optimized OS next year and some manufacturers are releasing Windows 7 tablets this year. |
You are subscribed to email updates from AfterDawn.com To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 |
0 comments:
Post a Comment