Responding to a request from the Office of the US Trade Representative, the MPAA has posted a list of the most “notorious markets” for pirated digital goods outside of the U.S.
The list includes a number of torrent and warez sites that are well known, as well as file-hosting sites and newsgroups clients.
Bob Pisano, interim CEO and President of the MPAA, submitted the list in response to the Office of the US Trade Representative’s request for a list of “notorious markets” outside of the U.S.
Pisano noted that 46 percent of revenue brought in by MPAA-member companies is from overseas.
“MPAA has a strong interest in the health and sustainability of these international markets and appreciates USTR’s interest in identifying notorious markets that threaten legitimate commerce, impair legitimate markets’ viability and curb U.S. competitiveness and hurt our overall economic strength. It is critical that our trading partners protect and enforce intellectual property rights,” says Pisano.
Result for: intellectual property rights
Electronic Arts will purchase Chillingo, the publisher behind the blockbuster game “Angry Birds” in an effort to boost their mobile gaming catalog.
The software company will pay around $19 million for Chillingo.
EA has confirmed, however, that they will not get the intellectual property rights to “Angry Birds,” which was developed by the Finnish company Rovio Mobile.
One analyst was surprised by the purchase because it lacked the IP for Angry Birds: “I’m kind of wondering what they bought,” says Todd Mitchell, a Kaufman Bros analyst, via Reuters. “But in light of EA not getting the IP, they’re buying the development platform to put their own IP on it in hopes of driving social networking and customers back to their own properties.”
Chillingo’s other popular game is “iDracula,” a shooter available for iOS devices.
Concludes EA: “By acquiring Chillingo, EA Mobile is increasing its market leadership on the Apple platform as well as reaffirming its position as the world’s leading wireless entertainment publisher.”
Result for: intellectual property rights
In early May, Microsoft sued Salesforce.com, claiming the company had been actively infringing on nine of the software giant’s patents.
The complaint was significant as it targeted patents relating to customer-relationship management (CRM), which is the bread and butter of SalesForce’s business.
Microsoft was seeking for an injunction on the features used in SF’s software that infringes on the their patents.
Today, the companies have settled the suit, although details of the agreement were not disclosed.
Salesforce says with the agreement both companies will be covered by each other’s patents.
Adds Microsoft: “We are pleased to reach this agreement with Salesforce.com to put an end to the litigation between our two companies. Today’s agreement is an example of how companies can compete vigorously in the marketplace while respecting each other’s intellectual property rights.”
