In news bound to make the adult and mainstream film and video game industries a little more comfortable, DVD-copying software company 321 Studios has closed shop.
"Despite [our] best efforts to remain in business, injunctions entered against [us] by three U.S. Federal courts earlier this year [have]resulted in [our] no longer being able to continue operating the business," the firm posted on its Website August 3.
321 had actually suggested in June that it might be forced to seek bankruptcy protection to pry itself loose of copyright litigation by Hollywood and the game-makers, but their final announcement came five days after a federal judge in New York slapped an international ban on 321's Games X Copy software, letting users make what the company called "perfect backups" to almost any personal computer game.
That, on top of 321's continuing battles with Hollywood – which sought to prove that 321's DVD copying software was explicitly intended to mass produce copyrighted films and videos, not just back up users' already-owned and commercially bought copies of the materials – ultimately forced the company to close down.
321 closed customer support on Aug. 1, saying they could no longer afford telephone, e-mail, or live chat support for any of the company's products. The company's Website announcement also invited creditors to e-mail a special address before Aug. 30 to verify details of outstanding invoices. Those who still want to buy select 321 products can get "some close-out" products at Jambalaya Brands' Website, while those looking for rebate status regarding prior purchases can visit a special rebate page for information.
Hollywood and game-makers Atari, Electronic Arts, and Vivendi Universal Games accused 321 of abrogating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which bars circumventing anti-piracy measures used to protect DVD discs and other digital technology. 321 had shipped retooled versions of its DVD-copying products after federal judges on both coasts barred them from marking the original DVD cloners, and the new versions did not include the component needed to descramble movies.
321 founder-president Robert Moore told reporters the company shrank from almost 400 workers and hopes of up to $200 million in sales this year to barely 2 dozen workers and under $400,000 in monthly income. He even told a Congressional committee looking into online piracy and concurrent issues in May that the federal court rulings against 321 put the company on the threshold of "annihilation."
