I'm a Clone, You're a Clone, Clones Everywhere!

Pillsbury's Virtual World's Team has recently commented on a federal court decision finding in favor of the owner of "Tetris" against Xio Interactive, Inc., the maker of a similar falling block game called "Mino".  In its post, the team advocates a dual pronged strategy of intellectual property protection through both patent and copyright law.

Game Cloning Can be Stopped!

Intellectual property protection and enforcement is of paramount importance especially with the growth of Apple's app store distribution platform.  Although the distribution platform allows developers of "indie" games to better connect with the consumer, it also allows for hundreds of game clones from various territories like China to flood the market. 

Mario Kart Wii Clone from China

App Clone Uploaded from Vietnam

Unfortunately, many of these small developers are completely unaware of how to remedy the existence of a game clone on the market.  Further, with each passing day there is the greater likelihood that a consumer will accidentally purchase the clone causing widespread consumer confusion.

At least during the initial screening of an application, Apple should have stronger safeguards in place.

The Republic of Korea's Proposed Ban on Virtual Goods

According to the Korea Times, next month the Korean Republic's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism ("MCST") hopes to ban the trade of ALL in game virtual items.  According to Kim Kap-Soo, the head of MCST's content policy division, "the main purpose of the games is for entertainment and should be used for academic and other good purposes."

The proposed law would prohibit users from using automated bot programs to collect items.  Violators of the new law would face a fine of up to 50 million won (about US$43,000, or £27,600) and a 5-year prison term.

The Korea Times

Also, this proposed ban comes on the heels of Blizzard's launch of its real money auction house in Diablo III.  At least in the US, users have spent upwards of $3,000 (US) on in game items to make them competitive on the inferno difficulty, the highest difficulty setting in the game.  With each sale Blizzard takes a small cut as shown below:

For Equipment (weapons, armor, accessories, and other unique items)

Transaction Fee (Real-Money Auction House): $1.00 USD per item / $1.00 AUD per item

Transfer Fee (when sending proceeds to PayPal or other authorized payment-service provider): 15% of amount being transferred
                    

For Commodities (gems, materials, dyes, pages, recipes, and other non-unique items)

Transaction Fee (Real-Money Auction House): 15% of final sale price
Transfer Fee (when sending proceeds to PayPal or other authorized payment-service provider): 15% of amount being transferred

Diablo III Transaction Fees

Although the ban has a good aim in the sense that it tries to discourage automated bot programs, which are always illegal, it will destroy the whole point of loot in dungeon crawling games.  Moreover, users will no longer be compelled to invest their time and money in such games.

The proposed law would threaten MMORPGs and other games that are free-to-play which depend on the value of their in-game items for their very existence.  No doubt large players in the industry will fight tooth and nail to prevent the passage of this ban.

Invasion of Diablo III....by the Korean Government

Korea's Fair Trade Commission ("FTC") has raided Blizzard's Seoul offices amidst allegations that Blizzard is refusing to offer customers refunds for Diablo III.  Because the game was hotly anticipated in the region the Diablo III servers became overloaded.  As a result, users demanded refunds and eventually complained to the FTC.

The FTC is reviewing whether Diablo III's EULA is "unfair" in that it does not allow for a refund if users experience problems with the game.

Below is an excerpt from the comparable EULA available from Blizzard's Americas and Oceania Diablo III site:

Service and Terms of Use.

The Terms of Use agreement governs all aspects of game play. If you do not agree with the Terms of Use, then (a) you may not register for an Account to play the Game; and (b) you may call 1-800-592-5499 within thirty (30) days after the original purchase and request a full refund of the purchase price. Once you accept the License Agreement and the Terms of Use, you will no longer be eligible for a refund. 

Investigation

Additional Info

Diablo III US EULA

Local Partners Required!

China has strict limitations for foreign developers.  For MMORPGS, the government requires a local partner to handle the distribution of the game.  Just recently in March of 2012, Blizzard and NetEase renewed their deal for NetEase to publish World of Warcraft in mainland China for an additional three years.  Blizzard's relationship with NetEase has spurred NetEase to be a major player as an online gaming company.

Renewal with NetEase