Here's another lawsuit to help fill your weekly quota of legal drama. This one was filed by the Entertainment Software Association against the Chicago Transit Authority for its 2009 ordinance that prohibits M and AO-rated video game ads from all its vehicles and facilities, citing that the ordinance is a clear violation of the entertainment software community's constitutional rights.

It's quite an emotional rollercoaster, this week really was. Straight off from the news that the King of Pop has died, we went on to have the usual string of gaming news that rocked our own worlds. With the usual news on lawsuits, layoffs, company shutdowns, convicted murderers over consoles, it was looking to be a sad state of affairs. Good thing we've got our own Neverland to brighten things up a bit. And now we've come to the Fourth of July weekend. Time to kick off those shoes, stretch out, unwind and celebrate. You know we all deserve it. Happy FOJ weekend, everyone!

Another week full of lawsuits. Poor, beleaguered company Midway came under fire once again, and this time it was from a very unlikely direction: the guy behind the Mortal Kombat movies is suing them in order to "protect his IP rights", which is a better way of saying that he wants to keep milking the MK franchise for as long as possible. Square Enix also got served with a class-action lawsuit for "deceiving" Final Fantasy XI patrons regarding fees. Not everything was bad, though. Read all about 'em after the jump in this week's Warrior recap.

These patent infringement lawsuits really are getting out of hand. This time, Sony, Nintendo and Nokia are being sued over a patent for an invention that will "allow an operator to distribute messages having aural or visual content that is generated by the operator using handheld apparatuses such as mobile telephones."

I'm wondering why they stopped at three companies. They should sue every major electronics company while they're at it.

Brett Ratner makes movies. He directed stuff like the Rush Hour series and the third X-Men movie. Recently, he confirmed to UGO.com's Movie Blog that yes indeedy, he's going to be working on the big screen adaptation of the God of War video game series.

A series of lawsuits filed by Activision has led to speculation that the world's biggest video game publisher is now employing tactics similar to those employed by the RIAA to crack down on file sharers. However, Karin Pagnanelli, Activision's lead attorney, has denied that the
lawsuits had anything to do with file sharing. More after the jump.

Long-standing lawsuit filed by WWE against THQ and Jakks Pacific concerning racketeering and bribery was finally put to rest by a US district court judge last December 3rd. More details about  the allegations made by WWE against THQ and Jakks Pacific and the lawsuit in general at the full article.

We got word that Sony Germany is allegedly hunting down online sites that offer any form of console modding services in relation to the PlayStation 2 (PS2) and more importantly, the PlayStation Portable (PSP).

And by hunting down, we mean lawyers have been included in the picture and lawsuits are likely to follow. Furthermore, Sony Germany also wants these same websites to remove any product that is related to the above mentioned services especially those concerning PS2 mods and PSP downgrading services.

It was reported as well that using and sharing of custom firmwares is a big no-no. Here's the thing, we are uncertain if this is only in Sony Germany or it's actually a worldwide act that was just started there.

One of the most popular modding sites in Germany and the one which will likely take a huge blow is online site "www.ModControl.com". We will update you as soon as we get further details regarding the matter

Just when we all thought Lik-Sang has hit rockbottom, here comes yet another blow to their already severely damaged company. After causing the online retail company to close down because of the multiple lawsuits filed against them, Sony is actually demanding the payment of £ 100,000 (US$ 188,000) in legal fees by November 1st.

This news stirred up mix reactions, with some people saying Sony deserves to get it, while some would say that there's just no sense kicking somebody when he's already down. Says Pascal Clarysse, Lik-Sang's marketing director, "Sony should be proud of having such a die-hard import gamers community rushing to buy their products and supporting them with a passion. Instead, they march all over us."

As for Lik-Sang's allegation that four of the top executives of Sony Europe actually got their own PSPs via Lik-Sang just a few days after the Japanese launch, well, it's just safe to surmise that was pretty embarrassing for them. However, Sony in Tokyo declined to comment on the issue, citing the reason that they have this no-comment policy on pending or completed legal action.

Ironic, though, is Sony's revision of shipment forecasts for PSP from 12 million units down to 9 million units supposedly because of a decline in demand for the handheld, just when they succeeded in closing down an unauthorized sales channel to patrons from Europe.

Because of multiple lawsuits filed by Sony, Hong Kong gaming retailer Lik-Sang finally succumbed and bid the industry goodbye. As of today, Lik-Sang is no longer operational, following the ruling of the High Court of London regarding the retailer's sale of PSP consoles. According to the decision, Lik-Sang's act was unlawful as it infringed on Sony's trademarks, copyright, and registered design rights by engaging in gray importation.

The main stand of Sony, through a spokesperson's statement to Gamesindustry.biz recently, was that they ultimately had the customers' best interests at heart. They claim that it would be to the disadvantage of the consumer if they were sold hardware that fails to conform to strict EU or UK consumer safety standards.

Lik-Sang, however, vehemently disagrees with Sony's claims, citing that the PSP consoles that they ship contain genuine Sony 100V-240V AC Adapters, which carry CE and other safety marks, compatible worldwide. Furthermore, all the handhelds did actually conform with all EU and UK consumer safety regulations. Therefore, the necessity issue for consumer-protection raised by Sony was non-existent at best.

Lik-Sang also points out the irony that while Sony was berating them for supposedly infringing on their rights, they conveniently failed to disclose to the High Court of London that Sony Europe's very own top directors allegedly received their PSP hard or software imports from Lik-Sang, starting just two days after it officially came out in Japan, complete with accompanying free Lik-Sang merchandise, like mugs or badge holders.

SCEE Managing Director, Ray Maguire, UK Marketing Director Alan Duncan, Chris Sorrell, SCEE Creative Director, and Rob Parkin, SCEE Development Director, are just a few of the names who were found to have placed PSP-related Sony Europe orders. Nine months later, Lik-Sang found itself facing a lawsuit from the company of these former customers.

Former Marketing Manager of Lik-Sang.com, Pascal Clarysse, had some words to say about the issue. And you can expect it to be not pretty. Says he:

Today is Sony Europe victory about PSP, tomorrow is Sony Europe’s ongoing pressure about PlayStation 3. With this precedent set, next week could already be the stage for complaints from Sony America about the same thing, or from other console manufacturers about other consoles to other regions, or even from any publisher about any specific software title to any country they don’t see fit. It’s the beginning of the end... of the World as we know it.

So what happens now to those existing placement orders?

Lik-Sang will be cancelling and refunding all existing orders. They are also now working closely with banks and PayPal to work out the refund of any store credits held by the company. Their customer support department is also working double time to cater to any open transactions, like pending RMAs or repairs and shipping related matters. They also would like to reassure their patrons that they will make sure nobody gets in the line of fire unnecessarily regarding this issue.

And like receiving news that a good friend just passed away, there's nothing more left to say.