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Injunctions

Appeals Court Upholds Injunction on Illinois Video Game Law

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 28, 2006 - 2:41pm.
Chicago - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has upheld a lower court ruling that declared an Illinois law banning the sale of sexually explicit games to minors in the state to be unconstitutional.
tags: Games | Law | Adult | Youth | Censorship | Legislation | Injunctions | Minors | Parental Control | Illinois |

Court Blocks Injunction Against EchoStar in TiVo Patent Case

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 4, 2006 - 1:07pm.
Englewood, Colo. - EchoStar Communications, operator of the DISH Network satellite TV service, announced that an appeals court has blocked an injunction against the company's digital video recorders that was part of a ruling won in a patent infringement lawsuit brought by TiVo. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Tuesday stayed the injunction ordered by a federal court in Texas, which would have prevented EchoStar from making or selling its digital video recorders, and compelled the company to disable set-tops already in customers' homes. "We are pleased the Federal Court found that EchoStar has a 'substantial case on the merits' and blocked the Texas decision for the duration of the appeal," EchoStar said in a statement. The ruling against EchoStar also ordered the company to pay TiVo $89.6 million in damages. "We are confident that the jury's decision in TiVo's favor will be upheld once the Federal Circuit has the opportunity to review the entire record in this case," TiVo said in a statement.
tags: Video | Law | Lawsuits | Tech | TV | CE | TiVo | DVR | EchoStar | Patents | Injunctions | Satellite |

Dutch Court of Appeal Orders MP3 Linking Website Shuttered

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 19, 2006 - 2:29pm.
Amsterdam - The Dutch court of appeal has placed an injunction on a website that provided links to copyrighted music files hosted on other sites, Reuters reported.
tags: Internet | Law | Piracy | Music | MP3 | Injunctions | Netherlands | ZoekMP3.nl | BREIN |

Court Throws Out Michigan Law Restricting Video Game Sales

Authored by dmw on April 3, 2006 - 6:33pm.
Washington - The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan has thrown out a Michigan state law that restricted the sale or rental of mature or adult-rated video games to minors. Judge George Caram Steeh placed a permanent injunction against implementation of the bill, which was signed into law by Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm in September -- calling it unconstitutional. The Michigan law would have fined retailers who sold such games to minors $5,000. "Judge Steeh's ruling represents a sweeping rejection of the state's claims regarding the harmful effects of violent video games and we will move immediately for reimbursement of the substantial legal fees incurred in this court fight which the state could have, and should have, never triggered," said Douglas Lowenstein, president of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), a video game industry trade group. Courts have consistently ruled thus far that laws banning the sale of video games to minors are unconstitutional restrictions on First Amendment free speech rights, having overturned similar laws in Illinois, California and Washington.
tags: Games | Law | Youth | Censorship | Violent Games | Ratings | Michigan | ESA | Injunctions | Minors |