Connectix Wins Appeal

Playstation emulator maker Connectix has won the reversal and remand of court injunction banning the sale of its Virtual Game Station for Macintosh. Sony had contended that the Virtual Game Station infringed on Sony copyrights, especially in relation to the Playstation BIOS, and tarnished the Playstation reputation. Connectix, backed by software makers and trade associations, argued that they had the right to replicate non-copyrightable functional elements included a reverse engineered BIOS. The court agreed, and recognized Connectix as a legitimate and innovative competitor. Connectix plans to begin shipping the Mac Virtual Game Station immediately. Further, the company plans to offer a Windows version of the Playstation emulator in the near future. "The court has recognized that reverse engineering is a common, legitimate, and valuable development practice, protected under law,'' stated Connectix CEO Roy McDonald.