Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

News

Court Fines Facebook $500 Million for Copyright Infringement

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Facebook Inc., speaks during the Internet.org summit in New Delhi, India, on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014. Zuckerberg said a lack of relevant local language content is the biggest barrier to the 4.4 billion people globally who don't have Internet access. Photographer: Udit Kulshrestha/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A U.S. jury in Texas, according to media reports on Thursday, ordered Facebook Inc, its virtual reality unit Oculus, and other defendants to pay a combined $500 million to ZeniMax Media Inc, a video game publisher that says Oculus stole its technology.

The jury in Federal Court in Dallas found Oculus, which Facebook acquired for about two billion dollars in 2014, used ZeniMax’s computer code to launch the Rift virtual-reality headset.

ZeniMax alleges that video game designer John Carmack developed core parts of the Rift’s technology while working at a ZeniMax subsidiary.

Oculus hired Carmack in 2013.

Facebook’s stock was not impacted by the verdict.

The company’s shares were up three per cent in after-hours trading following the release of a fourth-quarter earnings report that beat expectations.

ZeniMax Chief Executive Robert Altman hailed the verdict and said in a statement the company was considering seeking an order blocking Oculus and Facebook from using its code.

It is unclear what impact that would have on the Rift’s market availability.

Though the jury ruled that none of the defendants misappropriated ZeniMax’s trade secrets, it found Oculus’ use of computer code directly infringed on ZeniMax’s copyright.

The jurors held Carmack and different Oculus co-founders Palmer Luckey and Brendan Iribe liable for forms of infringement.

The jury also found Oculus liable for breaching a non-disclosure agreement Luckey signed with ZeniMax in 2012, when he began corresponding about virtual reality with Carmack.

The two met on an online forum.

Well-known for helping to conceive games such as “Quake” and “Doom,” Carmack worked for id Software LLC before that company was acquired by ZeniMax.

He is now the Chief Technology Officer at Oculus.

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg testified last month during the three-week trial that none of ZeniMax’s proprietary code was incorporated into the Rift.

Though the jury did not find Facebook directly liable, it would likely be on the hook for damages owed by its subsidiary, absent an agreement stating otherwise.

In a statement, Oculus spokeswoman Emily Bauer noted the jury’s finding on trade secrets theft and said the company would appeal.

“We’re obviously disappointed by a few other aspects of today’s verdict, but we are undeterred,” she said. ” Oculus products are built with Oculus technology.”

(Reuters/NAN)

__________

Follow us on Twitter at @thesignalng

Copyright 2015 SIGNAL. Permission to use portions of this article is granted provided appropriate credits are given to www.signalng.com and other relevant sources.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement

Related

News

HEBRON, Ky. (AP) — President Joe Biden intends to visit the U.S.-Mexico border — his first since taking office — in connection with his meeting...

News

The Federal Government has advised Nigerians traveling to the United States, the United Kingdom and some European countries to be wary of thieves targeting...

News

The United Kingdom has issued a terror alert to its citizens based in the United States. This was contained in a travel advisory the...

News

Amid the terror threat in Nigeria’s capital, the US has asked family members of its employees resident in Abuja to leave. This is contained...

Copyright ©