[games_access] Judge Tosses Blind Gamer's Suit vs. Sony

[Mark Barlet]

For the record I would not punch you in the face. That said I an going
to sue you for spelling my name wrong. I will sue for patent
infringment or something.   :)

Mark Barlet.

Sent from a mobile device.

On Feb 27, 2010, at 6:30 PM, Matt Troup <foreversublime at hotmail.com>
wrote:

> Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal anything.
>
> Just to clarify the below statement and the discussion in general:
>
> There was no trial.  The judge absolutely COULD NOT have required
> Sony to do anything, because the grounds the suit were brought on
> did not apply.
>
> Videogames are not a public accommodation.
>
> Here's an analogy for what happened, to help put this in perspective:
>
> Scenario: Mark Bartlett punches me in the face.  I sue him for
> infringing on my patent.  The judge looks at me and says, "You dope,
> I have to toss this out.  Something may or may not have happened
> between you and Mark - but patent infringement was not it.  Try
> again".
>
> If the trial finished with an affirmative ruling it would affect
> many different things.  Here are some other scenarios:
>
> Scenario 1: I go to Best Buy and steal over $500 of video games.
> Best Buy takes me to court.  My lawyer sites this case, showing that
> video games are a public accommodation.  I counter sue for millions
> of dollars saying Best Buy actively withheld me from a public
> accommodation.  I may or may not win the case, but I have grounds to
> make the claim.
>
> Scenario 2: A new company is created and creates a service, like
> Itunes, that makes all music free.  The record industry, and Apple,
> goes nuts.  The new company cites this case saying that recorded
> music is a lot like videogames, and those have been deemed a public
> accommodation, so they should be able to distribute music for free.
>
> Scenario 3: No games would ever be published.  Not because of
> reasons for ADA compliance, but because the company that created the
> game would not own the IP to have the right to work with a
> publisher.  The same would happen to Movies, Music, and Books.
>
> I don't know a ton about the law, but I know enough to give a
> disclaimer at the top.
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "John Bannick" <jbannick at 7128.com>
> Sent: Saturday, February 27, 2010 1:30 PM
> To: <games_access at igda.org>
> Subject: [games_access]  Judge Tosses Blind Gamer's Suit vs. Sony
>
>> Folks,
>>
>> There is a middle way.
>> ADA requires "reasonable accommodation"
>> Some games cannot be made accessible to a particular need.
>> Just as some jobs cannot be made accessible to a particular need.
>>
>> The judge could have required that Sony put into place a program
>> that at least attempted ADA compliance.
>> For example, applying VPAT (http://www.itic.org/resources/voluntary-product-accessibility-template-vpat/
>> ) and explaining why items were not VPAT compliant.
>>
>> Thus, a spelling bee game could not reasonably be made blind-
>> accessible.
>> One of Jim Kitchen's audio games could not reasonably be made deaf-
>> accessible.
>> Nor could a musical game requiring chords reasonably be made one-
>> switch accessible.
>> (Forgive me Barrie, Mark, etc. if it's been done.)
>>
>> Reasonable meaning without major changes, possibly changing the
>> nature of the game.
>> Reasonable could also include economic viability.
>>
>> Furthermore, and significantly, If adding ADA compliance, or a
>> specific remediation, would add cost such as to make a game
>> unprofitable, then by definition it is not reasonable, in that it
>> denies the game to those not requiring that accommodation. Mark's
>> point exactly, I think.
>>
>> What that requirement would do is inject the accessibility issue
>> into the developers' business process. Not a bad thing.
>>
>> Robert's anger is understandable.
>> And I'm leery of government intervention, especially in anything
>> that could be close to censorship, or is economically unviable, as
>> were price controls.
>> But VPAT's being applied to general software; ESRB is being applied
>> to games.
>>
>> Perhaps the judge could have applied a middle way.
>>
>> In any event, what this SIG is doing, and the individual efforts of
>> Mark, Barrie, Brian, Dark, Robert, and others is making a
>> difference in the developer community.
>> Developers, some at least, are more aware of accessibility needs.
>> Some are actually making specific changes (Niels Bauer games and
>> some of the folks Mark and Barrie work with come to mind.)
>> It ain't perfect; it ain't enough. But it is progress.
>>
>> John
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