A maker of software that enabled users to copy DVDs and computer games folded under the mounting weight of lawsuits by deep-pocketed movie studios and video game producers.
In a posting on its Web site, 321 Studios Inc quietly announced on Tuesday that "it has ceased business operations including, but not limited to, the sale, support and promotion of our products."
The company said that despite its "best efforts to remain in business," unfavorable court rulings by three federal courts this year assured its demise.
"The employees and those associated with 321 Studios sincerely appreciate your support of our company and products over the last couple of years," said the statement by the "321 Studios Team."
The company, based in the St. Louis suburb of St. Charles, warned in June that it could seek federal bankruptcy protection to free itself of copyright-related lawsuits by Hollywood and makers of computer games.
Tuesday's announcement came just five days after 321 suffered another legal setback. On Thursday, a federal judge in New York imposed a worldwide ban on the production and distribution of 321's Games X Copy software, which had fetched US$60 and let users make what 321's Web site had called "a PERFECT backup copy of virtually any PC game."
The injunction came as part of a June lawsuit by three leading makers of video games, marking a new legal front against a company that already was at odds with Hollywood over its DVD-copying software.
Robert Moore, 321's founder and president, long had cast his crusade as a David-and-Goliath struggle, insisting his com-pany's software was meant to let consumers innocently make backup copies of their DVDs and computer games.
Hollywood and the computer-gaming companies -- Atari, Electronic Arts Inc and Vivendi Universal Games -- argued otherwise, accusing 321 of violating the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
That law bars circumvention of anti-
piracy measures used to protect DVDs and other technology.
Federal judges in New York and California have barred 321 from marketing the questioned DVD-cloning software.
Since those rulings, 321 has shipped retooled versions of its DVD-copying products, removing the software component required to descramble movies.
Even in possible bankruptcy, Moore has said, 321 would make good with creditors, satisfy customers seeking rebates and press its case against Hollywood that consumers "should have the right to make copies of their own legally obtained digital materials."
In its announcement on Tuesday, 321 said anyone seeking customer support should do so by Aug. 1 next year at the company's Web site, "where you should be able to resolve most of your concerns."
The company said it no longer can offer telephone, e-mail or live chat support for any of its products.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique