China faces US piracy lawsuit

China has been accused of piracy in a lawsuit filed by California software maker Cybersitter, citing the Green Dam Youth Escort filtering program installed on personal computers in China infringes its copyright, reports BusinessWeek.

The company is seeking $2.2 billion in damages in a complaint filed in the federal court in Los Angeles. The company accuses China and computer makers including Lenovo and Acer, whose products include the Green Dam program, of stealing its trade secrets, unfair competition, copyright infringement and civil conspiracy.

“This lawsuit aims to strike a blow against the all too common practices of foreign software manufacturers and distributors who believe that they can violate the intellectual property rights of small American companies with impunity without being brought to justice in US courts,” says Greg Fayer, a lawyer representing Cybersitter.

Apex Technology Group won a temporary injunction in shutting down Web sites that carried derogatory comments about the company, reports NJBiz.

A Middlesex County judge granted Apex's request to remove the postings from three sites on a temporary basis. The judge also ordered Comcast Cable Communications, Yahoo, and Facebook to provide information about the anonymous poster to Patrick Papalia, a member of the Hackensack law firm.

“Apex has suffered economic losses as a result of the false statements posted to the Internet, but the company is not seeking damages,” says Papalia. “Instead, we want to permanently prevent the poster from continuing to defame Apex.”

Sports fans who watch pirated Internet content could soon be sued, reports The Vancouver Sun.

Dana White, president of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), says his company is readying a legal assault on individuals and Web sites that deal in unauthorised content.

The pay-per-view industry, of which the UFC has emerged as one of the most profitable players with an estimated $349 million in revenue last year, is the latest front in a war between consumers who want free content and entertainment companies with a product to protect.