Knights of the Old Republic MMORPG. Finally Confirmed.

Exciting news! BioWare's secret MMO project has been unvailed and my hopes are being realized! Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Massively Multi-Player Online Game is slated for release in 2009, and if all goes well, this MMO will deliver where SWG failed.

BioWare has a track record of developing outstanding computer role-playing games including the recent XBox 360 game that took the world by storm, Mass Effect. That game company can weave a story that rivals the ability of BioWare and I have high hopes that they will be able to deliver on this MMO. Only time will tell!

July 2008 U.S. Store Closure List

613 bits of good news for independent coffee businesses.

 

Quoted from http://www.starbucks.com/about us/pressdesc.asp?id=880:

 

July 11, 2008 July 2008 U.S. Store Closure List As we announced on July 1, 2008, Starbucks will close approximately 600 company-operated stores in the U.S. beginning this month and continuing through the first half of FY09. Partners (employees) in the stores listed below have now been given notification that their stores will close by the end of this month. Much thought and consideration was given to each location, because we know the impact this has on our dedicated partners, customers and the communities where we operate. The determination of each store’s closure date is dependent on several operational and contractual factors and events. We will be as transparent as possible and each month, after closure dates have been communicated to all affected partners, we will post a list of the stores that are scheduled to close during that month. Starbucks is listening to customers, partners and the communities where we operate and is working to address their questions while we continue to transform the business. ALABAMA #10797 - DAUPHIN & DU RHU 9 DU RHU DR MOBILE, AL #11322 - OLD SHELL & MCGREGOR 4401 OLD SHELL RD MOBILE, AL #11429 - AIRPORT & FOREMAN 6601 AIRPORT BLVD MOBILE, AL #11774 - UNIVERSITY & OLD SHELL 5611 OLD SHELL RD MOBILE, AL ARKANSAS #10883 - HWY 59 & RENA 2008 FAYETTEVILLE RD VAN BUREN, AR #11864 - HWY 264 & DIXIELAND 105 S DIXIELAND LOWELL, AR CALIFORNIA #9583 - NATIONAL & 36TH 3506 NATIONAL AVE SAN DIEGO, CA #10630 - HWY 111 & RANCHO LAS PALMAS 71743 HWY 111 RANCHO MIRAGE, CA #10710 - FLORIDA & SANDERSON 2801 W FLORIDA AVE HEMET, CA #10813 - CANYON SPRINGS & CORPORATE 2692 CANYON SPRINGS PKWY RIVERSIDE, CA #10888 - RAMONA & MISSION 4467 E MISSION BLVD MONTCLAIR, CA #11029 - LA PAZ & VALLEY CENTER 14689 LA PAZ DR VICTORVILLE, CA #11896 - SAN JUAN & MILLER 1280 SAN JUAN RD HOLLISTER, CA #13745 - PCH & BOAT CANYON 636 N PACIFIC COAST HWY LAGUNA BEACH, CA IOWA #13570 - MAIN & 2ND 201 N HARRISON ST DAVENPORT, IA ILLINOIS #13289 - 167TH & CRAWFORD 4019 W 167TH ST COUNTRY CLUB HILLS, IL #13469 - NORTH & YORK 291 N YORK ST ELMHURST, IL INDIANA #11846 - 16TH & SHARON 3021 W 16TH ST INDIANAPOLIS, IN #13201 - SR 1 & LOWES 2133 N MAIN ST BLUFFTON, IN KENTUCKY #10779 - HUBBARDS & WESTPORT 285 N HUBBARDS LN LOUISVILLE, KY LOUISIANA #11263 - I-10 & SIEGEN 6556 SIEGEN LN BATON ROUGE, LA #11264 - COURSEY & MARKET 14241 COURSEY BLVD BATON ROUGE, LA MARYLAND #11799 - COLLINGTON PLAZA 3524 NORTH CRAIN HWY BOWIE, MD MINNESOTA #9564 - FRONTAGE & PROSPECT 2221 E MAIN FRONTAGE RD ALBERT LEA, MN #10456 - RADISON RD & 109TH 2331 108TH LN NE BLAINE, MN #10457 - MAIN ST & HWY 10 2740 MAIN ST NW COON RAPIDS, MN #10642 - TYLER RD & MALL DR 144 TYLER RD N RED WING, MN #10871 - ROUND LAKE & HWY 10 13131 RIVERDALE DR COON RAPIDS, MN #11186 - W CIRCLE DR & 26TH 2665 COMMERCE DR NW ROCHESTER, MN #11635 - 66TH & HWY 252 615 66TH AVE N BROOKLYN CENTER, MN MISSOURI #10834 - WEST FLORISSANT @ LUCAS & HUNT 8017 W. FLORISSANT AVE JENNINGS, MO NEBRASKA #11527 - HWY 370 & 36TH 3811 TWIN CREEK DR BELLEVUE, NE NEVADA #6633- DESERT INN & DECATUR 4810 W DESERT INN RD LAS VEGAS, NV #10393 - TROPICANA & EASTERN 2510 E TROPICANA AVE LAS VEGAS, NV #10462 - CHARLESTON & BRUSH 5181 W CHARLESTON BLVD LAS VEGAS, NV #10872 - LAKE MEAD & RANCHO 3720 LAKE MEAD BLVD LAS VEGAS, NV #11647 - SKY POINTE & BUFFALO 6515 N BUFFALO DR LAS VEGAS, NV NEW JERSEY #9365 – CHERRY HILL MALL KIOSK 2000 ROUTE 38 CHERRY HILL, NJ 08002 NEW YORK #10840 - CENTRAL ISLIP TOWN CENTRE 101 S RESEARCH PL CENTRAL ISLIP, NY #11280 - FOREST PROMENADE 1756 FOREST AVE STATEN ISLAND, NY #11976 - SOUTHOLD 53345 ROUTE 25 SOUTHOLD, NY NORTH DAKOTA #10459 - 13TH & 25TH 1310 25TH ST S FARGO, ND OHIO #2525- 1505 5TH AVE 1505 W 5TH AVE COLUMBUS, OH #11883 - MAXTOWN 925 N STATE ST WESTERVILLE, OH TEXAS #9675 - HWY 83 & BOCA CHICA 100 EXPRESSWAY 83 BROWNSVILLE, TX #10877 - ILLINOIS & WESTMORELAND 3403 W ILLINOIS AVE DALLAS, TX #11302 - HWY 59 & HWY 36 27943 SW FWY ROSENBERG, TX #11565 - ZAPATA HWY & CHESTNUT 2201 CHESTNUT LAREDO, TX #13332 - VALLEY MILLS & WACO DR 4300 W WACO DR WACO, TX WEST VIRGINIA #11213 - THE HIGHLANDS 36 FORT HENRY RD TRIDELPHIA, WV

Blizzard Wins Key Judgments Against WoW Bot Maker MDY on Copyright and Tortious Interference Claims | Virtually Blind | Virtual Law | Benjamin Duranske

Blizzard Wins Key Judgments Against WoW Bot Maker MDY on Copyright and Tortious Interference Claims

July 14th, 2008 by Benjamin Duranske

Blizzard has won its summary judgment motion against World of Warcraft bot maker MDY on copyright grounds.  Blizzard also prevailed on its tortious interference claim.  This means that liability for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement and tortious interference is completely off the table and will not go to the jury at trial in September, assuming that the parties do not settle before then.  The only issue before the jury on these two claims will be damages. This is a major setback for MDY, which originally brought this action seeking a declaratory judgment that its WowGlider (now MMOGlider) bot software did not infringe Blizzard’s copyright.

For the background of this suit, see Virtually Blind’s complete coverage of MDY v. Blizzard.  Here is today’s Order re: Blizzard’s and MDY’s Summary Judgment Motions (.pdf).

The Court ultimately held that:

Blizzard owns a valid copyright in the game client software, Blizzard has granted a limited license for WoW players to use the software, use of the software with Glider falls outside the scope of the license established in section 4 of the TOU, use of Glider includes copying to RAM within the meaning of section 106 of the Copyright Act, users of WoW and Glider are not entitled to a section 117 defense, and Glider users therefore infringe Blizzard’s copyright. MDY does not dispute that the other requirements for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement are met, nor has MDY established a misuse defense. The Court accordingly will grant summary judgment in favor of Blizzard with respect to liability on the contributory and vicarious copyright infringement claims in Counts II and III.

Blizzard had argued that:

In this Circuit, the “copying” element may be proved in software cases by showing an unauthorized reproduction of a copyrighted software program in the computer user’s Random Access Memory (“RAM”). The Ninth Circuit has recognized that “the loading of software into the RAM creates a copy under the Copyright Act.” MAI Sys. v. Peak Computer, Inc., 991 F.2d 511, 519 (9th Cir. 1993), cert. dismissed 510 U.S. 1033 (1994); Triad Sys. Corp. v. Se. Express Co., 64 F.3d 1330, 1334 (9th Cir. 1995); see also Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. v. Cablevision Sys. Corp., 478 F. Supp. 2d 607, 621 (S.D.N.Y. 2007) (agreeing with the “numerous courts [that] have held that the transmission of information through a computer’s random access memory or RAM . . . creates a ‘copy’ for purposes of the Copyright Act,” and citing cases.) When such a copy is made in excess of a license, the copier is liable for copyright infringement. Ticketmaster LLC v. RMG Techs., Inc., 507 F. Supp. 2d 1096, 1107 (C.D. Cal. 2007) (‘“When a licensee exceeds the scope of the license granted by the copyright holder, the licensee is liable for infringement.”’ (citation omitted)).

MDY argued that loading a copy of the software into RAM is protected by Section 117, and was joined in that argument by Public Knowledge, a digital rights advocacy group.  The court rejected these arguments, noting that “the Court is not free to disregard Ninth Circuit precedent directly on point.”  From the Order:

MDY urges the Court to follow the approach recently taken by the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington in Vernor, 2008 WL 2199682. The Vernor court declined to follow MAI, Triad, and Wall Data, and instead applied an earlier Ninth Circuit case, United States v. Wise, 550 F.2d 1180 (9th Cir. 1977). Wise involved the application of the “first sale” doctrine under 17 U.S.C. § 109 to various transfer contracts between movie studios and recipients of movie prints. Vernor concluded that the critical factor in Wise for determining whether a transaction was a sale or a license was “whether the transferee kept the copy acquired from the copyright holder.” 2008 WL2199682, at *6. MDY urges the Court to follow Vernor and Wise and hold that the users of the WoW game client software are owners of the software because they are entitled to keep the copy of the software they acquire from Blizzard. The Court declines this invitation. Whatever freedom the court in Vernor may have had to disregard Wall Data when applying a different statutory provision – section 109 – this Court does not have the same freedom. This case concerns section 117, the very provision addressed by the Ninth Circuit in Wall Data. The Court is not free to disregard Ninth Circuit precedent directly on point.

MDY prevailed on some other other pending summary judgment issues and Blizzard prevailed on others, but the key result is that MDY has been found by the court to infringe Blizzard’s copyright through the sale of its WoWGlider (now MMOGlider) bot program, and to have tortiously interfered with Blizzard’s relationships with its customers through those sales. VB will be interested in seeing if MDY appeals.