Court Says Activision Can Go Ahead With Lawsuit Against EA

A Los Angeles superior court has ruled that Activision Blizzard can go ahead in its lawsuit against rival Electronic Arts relating to the departure of Jason West and Vince Zampella's from Activision-owned developer Infinity Ward.

Judge Elihu Berle ruled against an Electronic Arts' motion and a similar one filed by West and Zampella, saying that the jury trial against West and Zampella (and involving EA) can go forward on May 7, 2012. Activision claims that EA interfered with its employment contract with West and Zampella and "aided and abetted" the pair in what the company says is the "breach of [their] fiduciary duties."

West and Zampella were fired from Activision and its internal studio Infinity Ward (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2) in 2010, with Activision citing breaches of contract and insubordination. The pair are, in turn, also suing Activision for withholding royalties among other things


[source gameinformer.com]

Sony sued over terms of service update

According to court documents obtained by GameSpot, a Northern California man filed suit against Sony late last month on behalf of all customers who purchased a PlayStation 3 and signed up for PSN access before the September change to Sony's terms of service. The suit alleges that Sony engaged in unfair business practices by forcing consumers to either give up their right to file a class-action lawsuit or give up access to the online gaming network they effectively paid for when they purchased the hardware.

The suit says Sony buried the clause section describing the changes near the bottom of a 21-page form viewable through the PS3 and neglected to post an easily accessible version of the form online, even though it had done so with past user agreement updates. While the suit notes that Sony allowed an opt out from the class-action provision, the only way for consumers to do that was to contact the company in writing (no emails, phone calls, or online forms accepted) within 30 days.
Sony had not responded to a request for comment as of press time.

[source au.gamespot.com]