Three Video Game Makers Sue Over Software

The Associated Press is today reporting three video game makers, (Atari Inc., Electronic Arts Inc. and Vivendi Universal Games Inc.), have filed a lawsuit against 321 Studios Inc. of suburban St. Louis, for their Games X Copy software, a product advertised as creating, "a PERFECT backup copy of virtually any PC game". 321 Studios has already faced restrictions in their distribution of DVD-copying products, as it was determined by a federal ruling that such products violate the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (.PDF). 321 Studios claims it is the consumer's right to make copies of products they have purchased for reasons of maintaining an unscathed original for archiving and investment purposes. EA's Doug Lowenstein calls the piracy-easing software, a product that is "masquerading as a consumer-friendly tool". Read the Article