Electronic Arts, Nintendo drop piracy suit against Yahoo

Electronic Arts and Nintendo of America said Monday that they would drop a trademark and copyright infringement lawsuit against Yahoo, and instead work with the Web portal to combat piracy.

The three companies said they will use Yahoo's proprietary filter technology to block the sale and advertisement of pirated games on Yahoo's auctions and classified sections. Monday's announcement brings closure to a lawsuit filed by Electronic Arts and Nintendo in March 2000. Sega of America was also part of the initial lawsuit, but it dropped out last year.

At the time of the suit, the video game companies alleged that Yahoo (yhoo) refused to dismantle auctions of copyrighted video games, despite being notified of them and despite having technology that would have allowed it to police the auctions. Additionally, the companies charged that Yahoo profited from the sales, both through selling ads and by charging auction sellers to display their auctions. --Cecily Barnes, Special to ZDNet News