Supreme Court Avoids Sony/Connectix Suit

The US Supreme Court has declined to rule on Sony's appeal of a lower-court decision dismissing its copyright claims against Connectix Corporation. Sony claims that, in developing its Virtual Game Station - which allows consumers to play PlayStation games on a PC - Connectix copied the basic input-output system (BIOS) of copyrighted PlayStation software. In February, the electronics giant lost its case in the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that the Connectix Virtual Game Station is protected under the "fair use doctrine," which permits the copying of software to understand its functions. Sony's lawyers labeled Connectix's actions as "free riding" and claimed that the ruling infringes on the copyright protection of entertainment software.

On a related note, Connectix announced today that it will release a free demo version of the Connectix Virtual Game Station. The demo, available now, will let consumers enjoy PlayStation games on their PC and Macs. The utility supports over 200 PlayStation games that are on the recommended games list at Connectix.com.