"Modemac" <> wrote in message
news: om...
> 321studios.com made some headlines last year by striking first in
> court against the major Hollywood studios before they came after it.
> The move didn't work.
AUG. 3 | The countdown has reached zero.
St. Louis-based 321 Studios, marketers of the controversial DVD X Copy
and Games X Copy software, has apparently shut its doors for good.
According to a statement on its web site, the company has ceased all
operations, including the sale, support and promotion of its products.
It blamed the shutdown on a series of lawsuits dealt to the company by
the studios and game makers, which had charged 321 with copyright
violations under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
"Despite 321 Studios' best efforts to remain in business, injunctions
entered against 321 Studios by three U.S. Federal courts earlier this
year has resulted in 321 Studios no longer being able to continue
operating the business," the statement says.
The latest blow came July 29, when a federal district court in New York
issued an injunction against the company barring it from selling or
distributing Games X Copy.
The ruling came from the same court that had previously enjoined 321
from selling DVD X Copy. A federal court in San Francisco also ruled
against the company earlier this year.
"We are extremely pleased that 321 Studios agreed to stop manufacturing
and distributing its game-cracking software," Entertainment Software
Assn. president Doug Lowenstein said in a statement. "The technology
used by 321 Studios clearly violated the protection that game publishers
enjoy under the DMCA and we are optimistic that the final outcome of
this case will reflect that."
Officials from 321 could not be reached for comment. In June, the
company warned customers that it might be forced to file for bankruptcy
due to mounting legal bills.
Like the studios before them, the game publishers charged that Games X
Copy violated the DMCA's ban on technology used to circumvent encryption
codes on copyrighted works.
At the time, 321 officials claimed the software simply made a bit-to-bit
copy of a game disc without having to circumvent the encryption.
"Basically we'll never know if Games X Copy is legal, because the
company simply ran out of money to defend itself," said Fred von
Lohmann, senior attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
The foundation had supported 321 in its battle with copyright owners.
http://www.videobusiness.com/article...2&catType=NEWS