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Geek Culture / Troubled publisher to pay AVG $300,000

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General Sephiro
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Posted: 25th Feb 2006 19:37 Edited at: 25th Feb 2006 19:38
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Summary:
Bunch of companies being sued for creating FPS games
"American Video Graphics" patent'd the idea for having a moving + zooming camera so if your going to b creating a FPS game to sell, u better watch your back out there...

Quote: "In other words, any 3D game which features a moving camera and zoom effects could be accused of infringing the patent - resulting in costly lawsuits for games publishers across the board. "


Source for this info:
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=14951


Scary no?


http://www.hybridwolves.co.uk
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xtom
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Posted: 25th Feb 2006 19:43
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That's crazy


3D Object Viewer - Models/BSP/Terrains
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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 25th Feb 2006 19:51 Edited at: 25th Feb 2006 19:52
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That is the biggest load of crap i have heard in my life.

Do people get sued for using 2D graphics? No.


At least farting ferrets are better than stinky stoats.
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dark coder
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Posted: 25th Feb 2006 19:56
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zoom asin moving the camera close to the scene eg in an rts or changing the fov? and imo patents are getting pretty ridiculus they should be scrapped or something.

Halowed are the ori.
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JoelJ
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Posted: 25th Feb 2006 20:03
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they're redoing some of the technology rules and such in pantents, and they're having a service which shows the pending pantents (or something) and people can't point the pantent office to sources that have accomplished the same thing before, so people can't say "I invented air, *pantent*", because someone would say "people have been breathing since time began!" and send that in. hope that makes sense...

and people do things like this ALL the time, it's how they make money. They invest tons in pantenting all this crap, then wait years for people to be using them, then start suing and making money. I personally think doing things like this should be illegal... it's just theft. everyone knows they didn't invent these things

Software Patents should be illegal...


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Matt Rock
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Posted: 25th Feb 2006 20:19
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Whatever, let them sue me. They'll lose. To say "you can't use a moving camera in a game" is like saying you can't take photographs using a certain aperture setting. You can't patent something that general and expect people to pay out every time you need money. It's rediculous and I, for one, won't stand for it. That's why I'm going to write them a visciously evil piece of hate mail in a few minutes

To say that you created a style or did something first is one thing, but to sue anyone who follows in your footsteps, especially with something that someone else would have figured out anyway, is completely idiotic. I released Cheney Hunter before anyone else made a Cheney hunting game... so does that mean I can sue the pants off of the three other games that made a Dick Cheney game similar to Duck Hunt? Apparently, yes... but I wouldn't do that, because I'm not a tool.

"Hell is an Irish Pub where it's St. Patrick's Day all of the time." ~ Christopher, *The Soprano's*
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Benjamin
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Posted: 25th Feb 2006 20:23 Edited at: 25th Feb 2006 20:26
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Money really is the root of all evil.

I shall send them a letter:
Quote: "Sorry, American Video Graphics AKA AVG,
but when I saw your idiotic doings I was shocked.
I thought my grandmother made you do it.
I thought you did it because of windows word and its lack of updates.
IS that a lawsuit I spot, or a clenched fist?
I REALLY THINK THAT I SHALL BOMB YOU"


Tempest - P2P UDP Multiplayer Plugin - 70%
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Matt Rock
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Posted: 25th Feb 2006 20:31
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LOL Benjamin. I want to send them evil hate mail but I can't seem to find a website for the company. Anyone have an address for American Video Graphics? Is this the same AVG that made my anti-spyware stuff?

"Hell is an Irish Pub where it's St. Patrick's Day all of the time." ~ Christopher, *The Soprano's*
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Me!
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Posted: 25th Feb 2006 20:36 Edited at: 25th Feb 2006 20:38
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I have developed a system where the camera does not move but shows sequences of locations in the game in quick succession to give the appearance of movement, or the camera doesn`t move but I move the terrain around the camera to make it appear that it moves, or I will render selected viewpoints based on a perceptual path envisaged by the player, or I will provide a simulation of a digital number sequence where specific digital files are represented by things like animated aliens etc, or it will be a visual representation of an interactive spreadsheet, or....... need I go on , plus I don`t see em trying that line with Microsoft, they`d eat em alive, Bills sharks(lawyers) would be MUCH more numerous and agressive.



Windows: 32 bit extension/graphical shell for a 16bit patch to an 8bit OS originally coded for a 4bit CPU, written by a 2bit company that can't stand 1bit of competition, now available in 64bits.
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Jeku
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Posted: 26th Feb 2006 19:26
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Quote: "Software Patents should be illegal..."


No they shouldn't.

Stupid software patents should be illegal. Not *all* software patents.

Quote: "It's rediculous and I, for one, won't stand for it."


Haha--- and you will not stand for this? Atari and many other companies have already shelled out licensing money. I doubt you would win or be able to afford court costs if they were going to sue you


Automaton Games website has been revamped! Check it out!
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Pincho Paxton
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Posted: 26th Feb 2006 19:46 Edited at: 26th Feb 2006 19:46
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It is a stupid patent. I'm going to patent cube on a matrix....

I can hear the money rolling in right now!!!!

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Mikey P
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Posted: 26th Feb 2006 21:08
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Quote: "It is a stupid patent. I'm going to patent cube on a matrix...."


Yeah, I can hear all those 10 year old DBP coders reaching into their pocket money to pay you now...

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JoelJ
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Posted: 26th Feb 2006 21:21
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Matt Rock is confused on what's going on here. It wasn't because they were "the first" to do something, but because they were the first to PATENT something.

Quote: "To say "you can't use a moving camera in a game" is like saying you can't take photographs using a certain aperture setting."

no, it's like saying "you can't take photographs using a certain aperture setting, because I pantented it first", that's the problem here, they aren't saying they did it FIRST, but they're saying they PANTENTED it first. BIG difference.

The stupid thing about this is. They didn't pantent something to prevent others from using it before you can, but because they did it so others WOULD use it, and they let it brew awhile so they can make a LOT of money off of it.


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SirFire
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Posted: 26th Feb 2006 21:28 Edited at: 26th Feb 2006 21:30
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I would just like to say, the word is "patent", not "pantent", thank you

(there are 8 occurences of the word "pantent" before this post)

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Pincho Paxton
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Posted: 26th Feb 2006 23:10
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Quote: "Matt Rock is confused on what's going on here. It wasn't because they were "the first" to do something, but because they were the first to PATENT something."


I don't know if America is different, but in England you can't get a true patent on something that there is knowledge of. Even if you invented something, and told someone about it, you might not get the rights to the product because there was knowledge of the product. I know, because I have invented something myself.

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Jess T
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Posted: 27th Feb 2006 00:03
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Ooooh, what is it? Tell me... I wont tell anyone

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General Sephiro
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Posted: 27th Feb 2006 00:11 Edited at: 27th Feb 2006 00:11
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Truely I hope they get rid of some of the patented ideas, it feels restraining not to be able to make your game its fullest just because some1 says they've done it before you.

I remember the big confussion over making tetris games a while back, I believe it's currently aloud, to re-make the game BUT you must use a different name not sounding or ending in 'tris'


http://www.hybridwolves.co.uk
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Lost in Thought
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Posted: 27th Feb 2006 00:20
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This from a company that apparently doesn't even use the technology itself.

http://www.americanvideographics.com/

Quote: "Coming soon..."


I'll bet noone buys any of their stuff now, if there ever is any.

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Richard Davey
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Posted: 27th Feb 2006 00:36
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Atari (back in the 2600 / 8-bit days) patented LOADS of things.. every possible thing you could think of that constituted a video game back then. We're talking sprite movements, scrolling, animation, joystick input ... whatever they could think of. In the early 90s Sega had to pay them *millions* because of this, if my memory serves me right we're talking about $50 million here. In the end Sega paid for the patent rights and now owns them (it also bought $40 million worth of Atari stock at the same time). It probably saved them from bankruptcy actually!

So what AVG are doing is nothing new.

Bite my shiny metal ass
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JoelJ
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Posted: 27th Feb 2006 03:42
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Quote: "
(there are 8 occurences of the word "pantent" before this post)"

they're all probably mine, i knew it didn't look right...

Quote: "So what AVG are doing is nothing new."

doesn't make it right.


This just in: White lab coats cause cancer in mice. Details comming soon.
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Mattman
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Posted: 27th Feb 2006 04:59
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I think patents only usefulness is for bragging rights, being able to say who invented what. Using them to strip people of money is bad.

Why make sense when you could make brownies?
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JoelJ
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Posted: 27th Feb 2006 05:18
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Quote: "I think patents only usefulness is for bragging rights,"

naw, they have a use, just as long as it isn't abused. Because if you had this idea, and didn't have a lot of money, only enough for a prototype and stuff, you could say, "Hey good idea, if i could sell this idea or come up with the money...", so you get a lawyer and patent it. Go to bigger companies that have more money, and say "look at this idea", then if they say "i don't like it", they can't stab you in the back and make it their own.

That's the usefullness of patents... but they're abused too much.


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Wiggett
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Posted: 27th Feb 2006 16:42
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I should have patented the forum pirate, if lukas wasn't so worthy of pirate of rock status i'd be pretty peeved.

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Dazzag
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Posted: 27th Feb 2006 17:44
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Quote: "being able to say who invented what"
No they don't. They say who patented it first. BIG difference as someone said earlier.

Oh, and AVG are total parasites that should be hunted down and shot. Using a camera and a big gun (BFG). Hehehe....

Cheers

I am 99% probably lying in bed right now... so don't blame me for crappy typing
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Pincho Paxton
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Posted: 27th Feb 2006 18:59
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Quote: "No they don't. They say who patented it first. BIG difference as someone said earlier."


If you patent something there must be no knowledge of the product available. So you can't steal anything that is known about, even if only a few people know about it. That's the Euro situation anyway.

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Phaelax
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Posted: 27th Feb 2006 19:04
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What kind of idiots do we have in the patent office?

Quote: "patents are getting pretty ridiculus "

getting? oh its already been there for awhile.


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Peter H
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Posted: 27th Feb 2006 19:28
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AVG the virus cleaning people should sue them for ruining their name

"We make the worst games in the universe..."
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