If the Xbox were banned, who would play COD?
Mega-publisher Activision-Blizzard and computer hardware manufacturer IBM are the most recent groups to throw their weight behind Microsoft in its patent infringement suit with Motorola. In April, US international trade judge David Shaw ruled against Microsoft and recommended an order of exclusion be filed against the infringing Xbox 360 console, which would effectively ban it from being imported to American shores.
Unsurprisingly, parties like the Entertainment Software Association don’t want the Xbox 360 banned. Neither does Activision, who issued a statement supporting the ESA’s support. As “one of the United States’ largest video game publishers,” writes Activision, the company “has expended and continues to expend significant resources to develop video games and accessories specially adapted to operate on Microsoft’s Xbox gaming console.”
In other words, Activision has poured a lot of money into nurturing the Call of Duty Xbox Live fanbase, and it understandably wants to see a return on its investment.
Also opposing the Xbox ban was IBM, the company which “holds more U.S. patents than any other,” and who recently sold over 2,000 of those patents to Motorola’s parent company Google. Noting that the extent of Motorola’s investment in the videogame industry is all via licensing and that Motorola “does not manufacture a product that competes with the Xbox 360,” it called the phone maker out for seeking to profit from its refusal to meet Microsoft at the negotiation table.
A similar ban was decided in Germany, though it is currently in legal limbo.
Source: Fosspatents
Published: Jun 12, 2012 06:50 pm