Law

Finnish developer RedLynx has denied that it is behind the appearance on file-sharing websites of its upcoming Xbox Live Arcade game Trials Evolution. The studio once uploaded an incomplete PC build of Trials 2 SE to The Pirate Bay in a bid to stimulate demand for the game. Speaking to Develop, however, managing director Tero Virtala insisted his company had nothing to do with the leak of Evolution, which is due to be released on XBLA this year. More >

Ubisoft has confirmed that Michel Ancel platformer Rayman Origins will be released for PC on March 30. Even better news for PC owners: the digital download will only require a single activation, while the retail version will not feature Ubisoft's dreaded DRM at all More >

Jason Clare, who took up the post previously occupied by Brendan O'Connor during a government reshuffle late last year, has told Gamespot AU that the bill will be included in the first session of this year's parliamentary sittings, which begins on February 7. More >

Cambridge-based Runescape developer Jagex has won a landmark legal battle against the developers of bots which targeted its free-to-play MMOG. The two developers, brothers Mark and Eric Snellman, were ordered to pay damages to Jagex and to cease bot development for any of the company's games after it successfully argued that Impulse Software - the name under which the brothers traded - was violating copyright, trademark and computer fraud laws with its iBOT subscription service. Impulse Software is also forbidden from assisting other bot programmers, or discussing Jagex, Runescape or the court case in public. And finally, the pair must hand over any source code pertaining to their bot development along with any customer details held and the identities of anyone who has developed scripts for iBOT. More >

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has withdrawn its support for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) . The reversal comes despite a statement issued earlier this month in which the association said that, while it was "mindful of concerns" over its support, it had no intention of dropping its backing. "From the beginning, ESA has been committed to the passage of balanced legislation to address the illegal theft of intellectual property found on foreign rogue sites,” the association explains in a statement. “Although the need to address this pervasive threat to our industry's creative investment remains, concerns have been expressed about unintended consequences stemming from the current legislative proposals.” More >

A Senate vote on the Protect IP Act (PIPA) scheduled for next Tuesday has been postponed. Nevada Senator and Senate majority leader Harry Reid confirmed on Twitter that his decision had been taken following the overwhelmingly negative public response to the proposed legislation. More >

The tide is beginning to turn against the Protect IP Act (PIPA), with the controversial bill seemingly set to meet the same fate as SOPA after 18 senators announced their opposition to it. Ars Technica reports that of the 18 members of the Senate to renounce the bill yesterday, 16 are Republican and seven were originally co-sponsors of the bill. One, Orrin Hatch of Utah, said PIPA was "simply not ready for prime time." More >

UK trade assocation TIGA has at last spoken out against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), describing it as like "a sledgehammer cracking a nut." In a press release, TIGA lays out its opposition to the bill, despite reports earlier this week that the proposed legislation had been shelved indefinitely until both sides of the US House Of Representatives could reach a consensus. More >

Mark Kern, CEO of Firefall developer Red 5 Studios, has formed a gamer-focused pressure group, League For Gamers, in response to the Entertainment Software Association's backing of SOPA and PIPA. Speaking to VentureBeat, Kern criticised the ESA, which represents over 30 of the biggest US videogame companies and staunchly backed, and lobbied in support, of SOPA despite widespread opposition to the controversial anti-piracy bill. More >

Like most PC games, Ubisoft titles carry a limit on the number of machines on which they can be installed. However, Guru3D has found that the limit also applies to hardware components. The site set out to perform one of its regular VGA and graphics performance analyses on the recently released Anno 2070, testing the game on two graphics cards in three different PCs. That proved impossible when, after activating the game on each rig, he switched graphics cards only to be met with an activation prompt and subsequent message that he had used his entire allocation. More >

A large number of publishers are sending letters to those they claim have illegally downloaded games, threatening legal action unless they pay fines of several hundred euros. After CD Projekt said last week it would no longer be pursuing those it claim pirated PC RPG The Witcher 2: Assassin Of Kings, Torrentfreak dug deeper and found a host of publishers were doing the same thing, and that the practice is not limited purely to new releases. More >