Free WAP Sites Face Lawsuits
China Business News, 7/11/08
China Wireless Arts CEO Pan Yuwen recently brought suit against free WAP portal 3G.cn, seeking damages of RMB 10 mln. Pan says that CWA has "joined forces with nine major domestic content providers in bringing a series of suits against 3G.cn," which CWA found to be pirating 17 of its mobile games earlier this year after establishing its own sales channels.
In related news, a suit recently brought by Beijing-based game developer Zhongke Yachuang Technology (which operates under the brand name Erdo) against mobile gaming site Downjoy, seeking damages of RMB 2.7 mln, is also currently under review. Erdo licensed control of its WAP sales channels to another company for RMB 2 mln, after which that company discovered Downjoy was providing pirated copies of all 13 of its game properties for free download. In response, the company demanded that its agreement with Erdo be terminated, and that Erdo bear the cost of damages. An informed source says Gameloft, GLU, and 19 other overseas mobile game makers have collected large amounts of evidence against Downjoy in preparation to bring suit within the near future. According to the companies' figures, GLU was the hardest hit, with 8 of its games being pirated by Downjoy.
Internal figures from one company show that users of pirated mobile games outnumber users of legitimate copies by a ratio of approximately 8 to 1.
Keywords: Pan Yuwen piracy Erdo Gameloft 3G.cn China Wireless Arts content Downjoy free WAP mobile gaming WAP WAP portal wireless content provider Glu Mobile law litigation Zhongke Yachuang
Sending
