Gamers Rights Law » social media http://gamersrightslawyer.com For lawyers, game publishers, game makers, and game developers who care about gamer’s rights Thu, 28 Apr 2011 03:01:19 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.5 Convergence of Gaming and Social Media; overhyped or underreported? http://gamersrightslawyer.com/2009/09/10/convergence-of-gaming-and-social-media-overhyped-or-underreported/ http://gamersrightslawyer.com/2009/09/10/convergence-of-gaming-and-social-media-overhyped-or-underreported/#comments Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:04:19 +0000 jaymoffitt http://gamersrights.solopracticeuniversity.com/?p=6 The latest headlines about games seem to emphasize the social aspects of games; quests in World of Warcraft, meeting people or colleagues in Second Life, or hanging out in There. On the other side, the non-gaming social media, the litigation between “Mob Wars” and “Mafia” for the hearts and minds of the Facebook crowd. So when you get these convergences, does the law that applies belong more to the “social media” law category or the “gaming” category.

This particular complaint centers around the way Playdom advertises its own mob-centered title. Zynga alleges Playdom is deceiving players with ads that “misleadingly associate” its Mobsters game to Zynga’s Mafia Wars.

According to the Web site, the two games are #1 and #2 in players on Myspace, Mob Wars averaging 2.4 million users on Facebook. Zynga, which specializes in games for social-networking sites, has received $29 million in a new funding round led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Institutional Venture Partners.

Zynga has had issues before.
(Settlement reached December 2008 over developer jumping companies).

DISCLAIMER: This blog DOES NOT constitute legal advice, and in no way creates an attorney/client relationship. The writer is a Tennessee attorney, and holds no certification offered (if any) in the stated subject matter.

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