Peter Moore at EA may think suing pirates doesn't help, but Activision offers up a tall frosty glass of "fuck that" by suing a New York man for allegedly copying and distributing its games. Edge Online turned up the above case. GamePolitics had been doing a little digging of its own, and Edge's scoop provoked it to go with the results of its research. They found five other instances in which the world's largest, baddest, mightiest, richest games publisher wanted its money, Stewie-style, from file sharers. Call of Duty 3 is most often mentioned as the infringed game. Four cases have been settled for a total of $326,000, or 407,500 Xbox Live Points. One is pending, and the New York man, Mr. James R. Strickland, is looking at $30,000 to $150,000 for each infringement Activision is alleging, or may allege in an amended complaint. The full list of those sued (and/or settled) is on the jump.
• Shawn Guse of Federal Way, Washington. Guse, unrepresented by counsel, agreed to pay Activision $100,000 (CoD 3 Wii, CoD 3 Xbox 360) to settle the case. • Chris Hyman of Abbeville, South Carolina. Hyman, also unrepresented, agreed to pay Activision $25,000 to settle the case. (CoD3 Wii, Tony Hawk's Project 8, Xbox 360). • George Laflin of New Jersey. Laflin, apparently the only defendant who had an attorney, agreed to pay Activision $100,000 (CoD 3 Xbox 360). • Maryanne Leach of Northome, Minnesota. Leach, with no attorney, agreed to pay Activision $1,000. • Kenneth Madden of York, South Carolina agreed to pay Activision $100,000 (CoD 3 Wii, Cod 2 The Big Red One PS2, Tony Hawk's Project 8, Xbox 360). He too was unrepresented. • James R. Strickland, aka Ryan Strickland of New York State; case is still active (CoD3 Xbox 360). [per GamePolitics, which has pdfs of all the complaints/settlements.]
Activision Sues Alleged CoD Pirate [Edge Online, via GamePolitics]