Lawyers in Canada: Davis LLP - Legal Advisors Since 1892

Ontario Government announces new source of funding

Ontario Government announces new source of funding*

Making good on its March budget-time promise, the McGuinty government announced that the Ontario Media Development Corporation (the "OMDC") has $10 million to dole out grants to creative companies under what is being called the Intellectual Property Development Fund (the "Fund"). Video game companies are specifically included given the requirement that the recipients be screen-based.

Who can apply?

Ontario-based existing companies. This Fund is available to Ontario (or Federal) companies with establishments in Ontario focussed on screen-based content products. Start-up or emerging companies are not shut out by the requirement for the applicant to have been in business for one year; such companies can piggy-back on their principals experience, if it qualifies of course. There are certain exclusions that are described in the IP Fund Guidelines found here: http://www.omdc.on.ca/Page5575.aspx (The exclusions for interactive digital media products are found on page 5 of the Guidelines.)

What is being financed?

Eligible expenditures in early stage activities. "Eligible expenditures" means labour expenditures, non-labour expenditures and overhead expenditures incurred over the course of the taxation year for which the applicant has applied to the Fund. In the case of interactive digital media products, "early stage activities" means any activity necessary to bring closer to the completion of a functioning prototype or market ready stage.

When can one apply?

January 2010. The applications were posted today and can be found here: http://www.omdc.on.ca/Page5575.aspx. Applications will be accepted until July 31, 2010 (if there is any money left). The timeframe for expenditures is as follows: those incurred after March 31, 2009 (notice the retroactivity) up to and including March 31, 2010, and paid no later than 60 days after the applicant's corporate fiscal year end will be considered eligible.

How can one get more information?

Aside from the FAQ and Guidelines, the OMDC is holding info sessions in January/February; details can be found here: http://www.omdc.on.ca/Page5575.aspx

The key here, as with other similar initiatives, is to apply quickly (and correctly) as the Fund will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

*While quantities last. There is a cap of $10 Million and no applicant can secure more than $150,000, which means there will be at least 66 successful applicants. The individual cap would have to be shared amongst "associated" company applicants (the test for being associated is as found in the Income Tax Act).

What's in a Website?

In its December issue, the National published the results of its nationwide survey on the best Canadian law firm websites. The survey involved a panel of nine legal technology professionals who ranked and commented on Canadian law firm websites within different categories, including Blogs, Student/Recruiting and Multimedia, among others.

Some of the key factors considered by the panelists when ranking the websites were:
1. The website's simplicity;
2. The website's "curb appeal";
3. Whether the website posted any blogs;
4. Lawyer biographies;
5. Whether the lawyers' photos were professionally produced and present lawyers as being "real" and "approachable";
6. How clearly appropriate contacts were identified; and
7. Whether the website effectively merged various technologies such as Twitter, videos, blogs and web copy.

Davis LLP was the co-winner for the best website in the Blogs category (this category only included law blogs created and maintained by law firms), along with Clark Wilson LLP. Davis LLP's blogs received particular praise for social media best practices, including RSS feeds, Twitter connections and regular updates. Furthermore, Davis LLP's Video Game Law Blog was specifically recognized as an example of a "team blog" since it features multiple contributing lawyers.

Winners in other categories included Ogilvy Renault for the best website within the category of a Large/ Multi-Jurisdictional firm and co-winners Hyndman Law and Neff Law Office for the best website within the category of Small/Solo firm. Hull & Hull LLP was rated the best website in the Multimedia category and Bull Housser & Tupper LLP was ranked the best website in the Student/Recruiting category.

Opening the XBOX FloodGates

Wow, talk about litigious. In an earlier posting we reported about gamer-turned-litigator, Erik Estavillo. He sued Nintendo because he says a Wii update that limits cheating is "interfering with certain players pursuit of happiness". He's also suing Sony and Activision Blizzard.

Recently he sued Microsoft for $75,000, claiming pain and suffering resulted from the death of his XBOX 360. He says the XBOX is one of the only ways he socializes because he has agoraphobia. He also can't afford to get a new 360 or to replace the data he lost on his old one.

As part of his lawsuit he's subpoenaed Bill Gates. Apparently he wants to find out the number of XBOX 360s that have experienced the Red Ring of Death, and how many of those XBOX 360s Microsoft has repaired. Oh, and on another note he wants to know how many XBOX Live users have been banned for piracy in the last year. You never know... that info could come in handy, eh?

Coverage here.

Unsatisfied gamer sues Activision Blizzard

Erik Estavillo, the same man who has previously sued Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA), Microsoft and Nintendo, has allegedly filed another lawsuit in the Civil Division of the Superior Court of California. This latest suit was filed against Activision Blizzard over the game World of Warcraft.

According to Gamerant.com, Mr. Estavillo sued SCEA after he was banned from the Playstation Network for « inappropriate behaviour ». His lawsuit against Microsoft was for the failure of his Xbox 360 system, which he claims had to be replaced after it displayed the "red ring of death" and he allegedly sued Nintendo for having disabled unauthorized third party programs on the Wii.

It appears that he is now suing Activision Blizzard because he claims that the calculated slow pace at which the player walks or runs in the game leads to longer play time, which then leads to higher subscription revenue for Activision Blizzard, a practice that Mr. Estavillo has allegedly called "sneaky and deceitful practices".

Gamepolitics also reports that Mr. Estavillo, who claims to suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Agoraphobia, Panic Disorder, major depression and Crohn's disease, alleges that he relies heavily on video games for the "little ongoing happiness he can achieve in this life" and does not want to end up like other gamers in similar situations who take their own lives.

Escapistmagazine.com reports that Mr. Estavillo is asking the court to order that the game be "fixed", as well as an award of one million dollars in punitive damages "for creating a game which hurts gamers rather than being a bridge of entertainment for them to pursue happiness."

Mr. Estavillo has allegedly also subpoenaed Martin Lee Gore of the band Depeche Mode and Winona Ryder to testify on his behalf regarding the subject of alienation. According to GamePolitics, Mr. Estavillo is claiming that Gore will be testifying with regards to alienation because his song lyrics show that he himself has been alienated and Ryder is to explain the significance of alienation in the book The Catcher in the Rye, for which she has apparently shown an interest, and Mr. Estavillo allegedly expects her testimony to explain how alienation in The Catcher in the Rye can tie to alienation in video games like World of Warcraft as well as in real life.

Coverage at GamePolitics.com, Escapistmagazine.com, and GameRant.com

Human Rights Violations are No (Video) Games

A study conducted by two Swiss human rights organizations, Trial and Pro Juventute, has reportedly found that some video games depict actions that would constitute violations to international human rights laws in real life. More precisely, the researchers focused on International Humanitarian Law (IHL), basic norms of International Human Rights Law (IHRL) and International Criminal Law (ICL). The study was reportedly conducted as follows: gamers played 20 different games, while three attorneys observed the games in order to pinpoint which actions violated armed conflict rules and regulations.

It has been reported that the organizations in charge of the study have made the following statement: "The practically complete absence of rules or sanctions is nevertheless astonishing: civilians or protected objects such as churches or mosques can be attacked with impunity, in scenes portraying interrogations it is possible to torture, degrade or treat the prisoner inhumanely without being sanctioned for it and extrajudicial executions are simulated." The groups also reportedly noted that there were a few games that reprimanded the killing of civilians and that rewarded strategies aimed at preventing damages.

However, the organizations behind the study have allegedly stated that the study's purpose was not to prohibit the games or to make them less violent but rather, on a going forward basis, to have developers observe human rights laws and make it clear to gamers that human rights violations cannot be tolerated, even in a game setting.

Coverage at News.cnet.com

Some Xbox 360 users losing their memory

Microsoft locks out aftermarket Xbox 360 memory units; Datel objects, launches antitrust lawsuit

Are you one of thousands of Microsoft Xbox 360 users that have recently purchased a third-party memory unit for the Xbox 360 to store data and saved games? If so, you are likely suffering from memory loss. As a consequence of a recent mandatory update of Xbox 360's firmware, all third-party memory units have been disabled by Microsoft. Datel Design & Development ("Datel"), for one, is not taking this development sitting down. Having sold over 50,000 of its Memory Max cards to Xbox 360 users since May of 2009, Datel has responded by initiating a an antitrust lawsuit pursuant to the California Unfair Competition Law alleging that Microsoft has unfairly targeted Datel and its customers, and that permitting Microsoft to go ahead with its lock-out will "forestall innovation, and deprive future consumers of the benefits of competition."

It will certainly be interesting to see how this battle plays out in the courtroom; though I'm rooting for the little guy, my money's squarely on Microsoft. Check back regularly for further updates.

Gamasutra coverage here