Cortez v. Electronic Arts, Inc.

Filing 10

STIPULATION AND ORDER Extending Time to Respond to Complaint (tdm, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 11/25/2008)

1 QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART OLIVER & HEDGES, LLP Claude M. Stern (Bar No. 96737 2 [e-mail] 555 Twin Dolphin Drive, Suite 560 3 Redwood Shores, California 94065 Telephone: [phone] Facsimile: [phone] 5 Shon Morgan (Bar No. 187736) [e-mail] 6 Vincent M. Pollmeier (Bar No. 210684) [e-mail] 7 865 South Figueroa Street, 10th Floor Los Angeles, California 90017-2543 8 9 Attorneys for Defendant ELECTRONIC ARTS, INC. 10 11 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 12 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

quinn emanuel

13 SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION 14 DIANNA CORTEZ, an individual, on behalf 15 of herself and all others similarly situated 16 17 vs. Plaintiff, CASE NO. C 08 4917 SC CORRECTED STIPULATION EXTENDING TIME TO RESPOND TO COMPLAINT

18 ELECTRONIC ARTS, INC. 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
51464/2690614.2

Defendant.

Case No. C 08 4917 SC STIPULATION TO EXTEND TIME TO RESPOND

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IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED AND AGREED, by and between the undersigned, that

2 whereas there is a pending motion to deem the above-captioned case related to Eldridge v. 3 Electronic Arts, Inc., Case No. C 08 4733 CW in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District 4 of California ("Motion"),1 and whereas defendant will not oppose the pending Motion, and 5 whereas plaintiff's counsel in the two cases are considering whether it is appropriate to consolidate 6 the cases, the time for defendant to respond to the complaint shall be continued to December 5, 7 2008. By entering into this stipulation, defendant does not waive any defense to the complaint, 8 including lack of jurisdiction. 9 10 11 DATED: November 21, 2008 12 Respectfully submitted, QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART OLIVER & HEDGES, LLP

quinn emanuel

13 14 15 16 17 DATED: November 21, 2008 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
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By /s/ Vincent M. Pollmeier Vincent M. Pollmeier Attorneys for Defendant ELECTRONIC ARTS, INC. GIRARD GIBBS LLP

By /s/ Eric H. Gibbs Eric H. Gibbs Attorneys for Plaintiff

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The Complaint in Eldridge v. Electronic Arts, Inc. is attached hereto.

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Case No. C 08 4917 SC STIPULATION TO EXTEND TIME TO RESPOND

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I, Vincent M. Pollmeier, am the ECF user whose identification and password are being

2 used to file this stipulation. In compliance with General Order 45.X.B, I hereby attest that the 3 other signatory has concurred in this filing. 4 5 DATED: November 21, 2008 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
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Respectfully submitted, QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART OLIVER & HEDGES, LLP

By /s/ Vincent M. Pollmeier Vincent M. Pollmeier Attorneys for Defendant ELECTRONIC ARTS, INC.

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CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT Plaintiff Richard Eldridge ("Plaintiff'), by his attorneys, states this complaint against Defendant ELECTRONIC ARTS, INC. ("Electronic Arts" or "EA"). Plaintiff's allegations are based on information and belief, except to his own actions, which are based on knowledge. Plaintiff's allegations on information and belief are based on the investigation of his counsel, and facts that are a matter of public record. NATURE OF THE CLAIM 1. This is a class action concerning the Spore Creature Creator Free

Trial Edition computer game ("Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition") published by Electronic Arts. Despite the fact that the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition was "Free;" was downloaded from the EA website without any charge; and could be downloaded by anyone, anywhere; Electronic Arts nevertheless secretly installed a Digital Rights Management software program on the computers of all persons who downloaded the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition. The inclusion of undisclosed, secretly installed DRM protection measures with a program that was freely distributed constitutes a major violation of computer owners' absolute right to control what does and what does not get loaded onto their computers, and how their computers shall be used. 2. The Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition is advertised as a demo
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game for the PC. When consumers are invited to download the Spore Creature, they are told: "Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition." (or) Creature Creator trial version Contains 25% of the body parts of complete edition Users are invited to install and use the trial game on their computers. 3. Persons who download the game are not told is that, included in the

download, installation, and operation of Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition is a second, undisclosed program. The name of the second program is SecuROM, which is a form of Digital Rights Management (DRM) for computer games. Consumers are given no notice whatsoever that the FREE trial version of the game includes Digital Rights Management technology. Consumers are further not told that this DRM technology consists of an entirely separate, stand-alone program which will download, install, and operate on their computers, along with the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition download. Consumers are given no control, rights, or options over SecuROM. The program cannot be completely uninstalled. Once installed, it becomes a permanent part of the consumer's software portfolio. Even if the consumer uninstalls the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition game, and entirely deletes it from their computer, SecuROM remains installed and operating on their computer. The only way to completely remove SecuROM, and
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all aspects of its original, secret installation, is through a complete wipe of the hard drive through reformatting or replacement of the drive. 4. This action is brought on behalf of a class of all U.S. computer owners

who have downloaded the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer game. Electronic Arts' intentionally did not disclose to any such computer owners that the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition game disk also possessed a second, hidden program which secretly installed to the command and control center of the computer (Ring 0, or the Kernel), and surreptitiously operated, overseeing function and operation on the computer, preventing the computer from operating under certain circumstances and/or disrupting hardware operations. These actions constitute violations of the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act, Civil Codes § 1750 et seq. and California's Unfair Competition Law, Business & Professions Code §§ 17200, et seq., and further constitute a trespass to chattels. INTRODUCTORY ALLEGATIONS 5. This class action arises from defendant Electronic Arts Inc.'s

("Electronic Arts" or "EA" or "defendant"), engaging in deceptive and unlawful conduct in designing, marketing, distributing a computer game demo that contains undisclosed and unconsented to Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology. 6. Electronic Arts, Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) is a worldwide American

developer, marketer, publisher, and distributor of computer and computer games.
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Established in 1982, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry. Originally, EA was a home computing game publisher. In the late 1980s, the company began developing games in-house and supported consoles by the early 1990s. EA later grew via acquisition of several successful developers. By the early 2000s, EA had become one of the world's largest third-party publishers. In 2007, EA ranked 8th on the list of largest software companies in the world. In May 2008, the company reported net annual revenue of US$ 4.02 billion in fiscal year 2008. The Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition Computer Game 7. The demo version of the Spore Creature Creator (Free Trial Edition)

was released on or about June 17, 2008 as a direct download from Electronic Arts. 8. On June 17, 2008, EA released the following press release concerning

its Spore Creature Creator and demo: Spore Creature Creator Available Worldwide Today; Spore Creature Creator Kicks off the Countdown to the Release of Spore this September DATELINE: REDWOOD CITY, Calif. Prepare to test the limits of your imagination! Maxis, an Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) studio, today released the Spore(TM) Creature Creator, an introduction to the highly-anticipated and groundbreaking video game, Spore(TM) which will ship worldwide this September. Available today for both PC and Mac, the Spore Creature Creator is a
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stand-alone product and creativity toy box where players create their own unique creatures, bring them to life with entertaining animations, and share them online with friends around the world. The full version of the Spore Creature Creator will be available for $9.99 at retail stores or by visitingwww.spore.com. A free trial version of the Spore Creature Creator is also available today atwww.spore.com. The trial version features 25% of the creature-making parts from Spore and lets players shape, paint and play with their custom-created creatures. Creatures made in the Spore Creature Creator can also be imported into the full Spore game, allowing players to populate their own galaxies when the game ships worldwide later this year. The Spore Creature Creator lets players create their own creatures, take them on a test drive, snap pictures, and make movies of them. Sharing pictures or videos with friends is as easy as the click of a button. Players can also share their creations with others by uploading to the Sporepedia (TM) at www.Spore.com. The Sporepedia is an extraordinarily vast online destination where people worldwide can search for and share Spore creations, comment on other player's designs, check out celebrity creature creations and much more. "Today is the day we begin to see Spore come to life," said Executive Producer and General Manager of Maxis, Lucy Bradshaw. "We're excited to see what players will do with the powerful and intuitive creativity tools we've put into the Spore Creature Creator. Our team will be excitedly keeping an eye on the Sporepedia to check out creations made by players from around the world." The ability to upload players' creations to YouTube(TM) has also been integrated into the Spore Creature Creator. Players can import and upload video of their creatures' moves directly to YouTube with only two clicks within the game. Spore will have its own YouTube Channel where all videos of users' creations uploaded from the game will be showcased for the YouTube community to watch, share, rate and comment on. Check it out at http://youtube.com/spore. Love your creature so much you want the entire world to see? Post it to your blog for people to check out, even create an avatar for your favorite social networking site. And if you want to see your creature
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come to life in the real world - now you can! Visit www.zazzle.com/sporestoreto upload your creature and turn it into a custom coffee mug, t-shirt, magnet, stickers and more! Zazzle allows you to instantly create cool products for your creature so you can take your creature on the go, wherever you go! Spore,the highly-anticipated game from the creators of The Sims(TM), gives players their own personal universe in a box. Create and evolve life, establish tribes, build civilizations, sculpt entire worlds and explore a universe filled with creations made by other gamers. Spore gives players a wealth of creative tools to customize nearly every aspect of their universe: creatures, vehicles, buildings, and even UFOs. The Spore Creature Creator is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB. The downloadable demo version is free. The complete version has an MSRP of $9.99 in North America. Spore ships for the PC, Mac, Nintendo DS(TM) and mobile phones on September 5, 2008 in Europe and September 7, 2008 in North America and Asia. Visit www.Spore.comto download a free version of the Spore Creature Creator, sign up for the Spore newsletter or check out all-new screenshots and videos from the game. About Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EATM, EA SPORTS FreestyleTMand POGOTM. In fiscal 2008, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.67 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com. 9. At EA's Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition website, EA stated:
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Spore Creature Creator (PC- Free Trial Edition)
! ! ! !

BUILD using drag-and-drop, flexible parts ­ is it fashion, function, or fashunction? PAINT with unique patterns, make your creature stand out in a crowd PLAY with your creature as it comes to life with dances, poses, and emotions SHARE using built-in snapshot and video tools--make your creature a star.

http://eastore.ea.com/store/ea/en_US/DisplayProductDetailsPage/ThemeID.1 252400&productID=101447000 10. The Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition game listed the

following system requirements: Creature Creator - System Requirements Spore Creature Creator requires at least the following: FOR WINDOWS XP * 2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent * 512 MB RAM * A 128 MB Video Card, with support for Pixel Shader 2.0 * The latest version of DirectX 9.0c * At least 190MB of hard drive space for installation, plus additional space for created creatures. FOR WINDOWS VISTA * 2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent * 768 MB RAM * A 128 MB Video Card, with support for Pixel Shader 2.0 * At least 190MB of hard drive space for installation, plus additional space for created creatures.

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FOR MAC OS X * Mac OS X 10.5.3 Leopard or higher * Intel Core Duo Processor * 1024 MB RAM * ATI X1600 or NVidia 7300 GT with 128 MB of Video RAM, or Intel Integrated GMA X3100 * At least 260MB of hard drive space for installation, plus additional space for created creatures. This game will not run on PowerPC (G3/G4/G5) based Mac systems (PowerMac). Consult the readme file for more information on using the Creature Creator Trial. http://eu.spore.com/whatisspore/creaturecreator.cfm 11. The EA website also provided: Terms & Conditions of Downloading Materials The materials provided on this web site are provided "as is" without warranties of any kind. Electronic Arts Inc., its subsidiaries, divisions, affiliates and licensors ("EA") disclaim all warranties, either express of implied, including but not limited to, warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. To the extent allowed by applicable law, in no event will EA be liable for damages of any kind to your hardware, peripherals or software programs as a result of your download or use of our materials. You may download one copy of the materials onto a single computer for your personal, non-commercial, home use only, provided you keep intact all copyright, trademark and other proprietary notices. No materials from this web site may be copied, reproduced, modified, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, broadcast or distributed in any way without the express written consent of EA. Unauthorized use of the materials is a violation of EA's copyright and constitutes infringement of EA's proprietary rights.
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Scc_trial_na.exe 11. At no time, in any of its advertisements, in any of its descriptions, or

in any of its terms, conditions, or system requirements, were consumers told or informed that the FREE trial version of the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition included Digital Rights Management technology along with the download. SecuROM Digital Rights Management (DRM) Technology 12. The Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition game must be installed

from EA's website onto a computer in order for the game to function. 13. When a user installs the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition

game, a second program, SecuROM, is automatically and secretly installed along with the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition game. 14. SecuROM installs itself to the Kernel of the computer (the

administrative command and control center of the computer). Once installed, SecuROM then allows itself to access to all parts of the computer. 12. The operating system of a computer utilizes different parts or levels of

the computer, determined by the need of the software for access and control over different aspects of the hardware or software. These parts are commonly called Ring 0, 1, 2 and 3. Ring 0 is sometimes referred to as the Kernel. The Kernel is usually used by the Operating System to run the computer and it has access to everything on the computer. Ring 3, which is the normal zone used by Software
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has much lower permissions. SecuROM represents that it installs itself to Ring 3 (by having a part of itself called the UA7service.exe written to Ring 3), when in fact it installs its primarily operational code to Ring 0. 13. Writing itself to the Kernel of the computer allows SecuROM to have

control over all other programs and processes on the computer, including equipment that computer users are legally permitted and entitled to possess (e.g., two cd/dvd drives on the computer). 14. Like any program, SecuROM uses computer resources. It uses

memory, processor cycles, and program handles (leaving less for any uses the owner might have had planned for their computer). To transmit information back to EA, SecuROM uses the computer owner's internet connection. Whenever it downloads, installs, or runs, SecuROM uses resources belonging to the computer owner, which, by definition, make those resources unavailable for other tasks. Like any program, SecuROM takes up space on the user's hard drive. Like any program, SecuROM offers computer users another opportunity for something to go wrong, if it fails. And, just like any other program, SecuROM does have its failures. 1

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See. E.g.: http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=270437 A version of SecuROM installed with many recent games is responsible for crashing games possibly in all versions of windows and also the explorer right click context crash on Vista (also affects ME). The file responsible for crash is CMDLineExt.dll which can be found in System 32. CMDLineExt.dll is for a right click context menu used for starting SecuROM analysis for game
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15.

No notification of the nature, function, and operation of the SecuROM

program was provided to persons who downloaded the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition. No notice of its secret installation was provided to persons who loaded and installed the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer game. No one was told that it was a separate program installing to the Kernel of the computer and that it could not be uninstalled. 16. Nowhere in any of EA's websites descriptions of its Spore Creature

Creator Free Trial Edition game, or in its advertisements or promotions of the demo, did EA disclose that the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition game contained a separately installed, stand alone, unremovable DRM program which would install itself to the command and control center of the computer and oversee function and operation on the computer, preventing certain user actions, preventing certain user programs from operating, or disrupting hardware operations. 17. EA's EULA for Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition makes

utterly no mention of any Technical Protection Measures, DRM technology, or SecuROM whatsoever. 18. By forcing a secret installation of SecuROM to the Ring 0 of the

computer systems of plaintiff and the class, EA took for itself administrative rights higher than the actual owner of the computer, without informing the computer
executables.
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owner of its intention to acquire such computer privileges, and without obtaining consent from the owner of the computer in its acquisition of those computer privileges. 19. By forcing a secret installation of SecuROM to the Ring 0 of the

computer systems of plaintiff and the class, EA has rendered every single computer on which its SecuROM program is installed vulnerable to malicious attack. Because of the way the SecuROM program is written and installed, there exist simple exploits that can permit hackers and criminals to gain access or control of any user's system on which SecuROM is installed. EA installed SecuROM directly to the computer's Kernel. SecuROM is a vulnerable, ill-protected program operating at the highest level of security on the computer. Every single computer owner that has SecuROM installed on their computer is vulnerable to a third party direct attack on that user's OS Kernel, permitting the complete control of every aspect of that computer system by outside third parties. Simply by virtue of having the program installed on their computers, EA's SecuROM program has opened a major security hole directly into the most sensitive, and ordinarily, most highly protected systems on a computer. 20. In addition, and also undisclosed to persons who downloaded the

Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer game, the SecuROM program is designed to directly interfere with, and/or disable certain software functions.
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Specifically, SecuROM will disable certain programs that the designers of the SecuROM program believe that computer users should not own, or possess, or operate on their computer, to wit: ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 21. Fantom CD Emulator Alcohol 120% Nero Image Drive Phantom CD Clone CD Ark Virtual Drive Veritas DLA Daemon Tools AnyDVD Process Explorer Process Explorer is a commonly used system monitoring and

examination utility published by Microsoft which is used as the first step in debugging software or system problems. Nevertheless, EA, by virtue of its secret installation of SecuROM, has determined that it should have control over which programs a user may run or utilize on their computer, and so it designed SecuROM to prohibit the operation of this program, and others, if Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition is open. 22. In addition, and also undisclosed to persons who downloaded the

Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer game, the SecuROM program is designed to directly interfere with, and/or disable hardware functions. Specifically, SecuROM can or will disable multiple cd / dvd burners on computers.
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This disabling occurs regardless of whether the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition game is running or not. In other words, under certain circumstances, SecuROM will seek out and disable any secondary disk burning hardware on any computer on which it is installed. EA, by virtue of its secret installation of SecuROM, has determined that it should have control over what hardware a user may have installed on their computer, and so it designated that SecuROM should prohibit the operation of certain hardware regardless of whether the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition program is open or not. 23. Plaintiff brings this class action on behalf of a class of U. S.

consumers who downloaded Electronic Arts' Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer game which contained an undisclosed, secret, separately installed, stand alone, unremovable DRM program which would install itself to the command and control center of the computer and oversee function and operation on the computer, preventing certain user actions, preventing certain user programs from operating, or disrupting hardware operations. Plaintiff and the proposed class members would not have downloaded the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer game had they known the truth about the product. 24. Plaintiff seeks actual damages, individual restitution, equitable relief,

civil penalties, costs and expenses of litigation, including attorneys' fees, and all further relief available.
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VENUE AND JURISDICTION 25. This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this action pursuant to

28 U.S.C. § 1332. The aggregate claims of plaintiff and the proposed class members exceed, for all jurisdictional purposes, the sum or value of $5,000,000.00. 28. Electronic Arts is a Delaware corporation headquartered in California

and is a citizen only of the states of California and Delaware. Plaintiff is a citizen and resident of Pennsylvania, and asserts claims of behalf of a proposed class whose members are scattered throughout the fifty states (including the 48 states besides California and Delaware) and the U.S. territories: there is minimal diversity of citizenship between proposed class members and the Defendant. 29. This Court also has personal jurisdiction over defendant because (a) a

substantial portion of the wrongdoing alleged in this complaint took place in this state, (b) defendant Electronic Arts' principal place of business is located in this state, and (c) defendant is authorized to do business here, has sufficient minimum contacts with this state, and/or otherwise intentionally availed itself of the markets in this state through the promotion, marketing, and distribution of its product in this state, to render the exercise of jurisdiction by this Court permissible under traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice. 30. Venue is proper in this District under 28 U.S.C. §1391(b) and (c). A

substantial portion of the events and conduct giving rise to the violations of law
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complained of herein occurred in this District, defendant Electronic Arts Inc.'s principal executive offices and headquarters are located in this District at 209 Redwood Shores Parkway, Redwood City, CA 94065, and defendant conducts business with consumers in this District. 31. Jurisdiction and venue are also proper in this district because the EA

End User License Agreement ("EULA") contains a clause entitled "Entire Agreement; Governing Law." which expressly vests jurisdiction and venue for actions related to the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer game and its EULA in the state and federal courts of California and this district: 8. Entire Agreement; Governing Law. This License constitutes the entire agreement between EA and you regarding the Spore Creature Creator. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed (without regard to conflicts or choice of law principles) under the laws of: (i) England if you reside in a Member State of the European Union; and (ii) the State of California if you reside in any other jurisdiction. Unless expressly waived by EA in writing for the particular instance or contrary to local law, the sole and exclusive jurisdiction and venue for actions related to the subject matter hereof shall be the California state and federal courts having within their jurisdiction the location of EA's principal place of business. You consent to the jurisdiction of such courts and agree that process may be served in the manner provided herein for giving of notices or otherwise as allowed by California or U.S. federal law. PARTIES 32. Plaintiff Richard Eldridge (Plaintiff) is a citizen and resident of

Bradford County, Pennsylvania. Plaintiff downloaded a copy of the Spore
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Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer game. EA did not disclose that the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer game contained an undisclosed, secret, separately installed, stand alone, unremovable DRM program which would install itself to the command and control center of the computer and oversee function and operation on the computer, preventing certain user actions, preventing certain user programs from operating, or disrupting hardware operations. Plaintiff would not have downloaded the computer game had he known the truth about the product. Plaintiff brings this action on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated. 33. Defendant Electronic Arts has been and still is engaged in the

business of designing, creating, marketing, distributing, and/or selling computer games. Defendant Electronic Arts is a Delaware Corporation with its principal offices at 209 Redwood Shores Parkway, Redwood City, CA 94065. Electronic Arts common shares trade on the NASDAQ (ERTS). 34. Plaintiff is currently ignorant of the true names and capacities,

whether individual, corporate, associate, or otherwise, of the defendants sued herein under the fictitious names Does 1 through 75, inclusive, and therefore, sues such defendants by such fictitious names. Plaintiff will seek leave to amend this complaint to allege the true names and capacities of said fictitiously named defendants when their true names and capacities have been ascertained. Plaintiff is
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informed and believes and based thereon allege that each of the fictitiously named Doe defendants is legally responsible in some manner for the events and occurrences alleged herein, and for the damages suffered by plaintiff. 35. Plaintiff is informed and believes and based thereon allege that all

defendants, including the fictitious Doe defendants, were at all relevant times acting as actual agents, conspirators, ostensible agents, partners and/or joint venturers and employees of all other defendants, and that all acts alleged herein occurred within the course and scope of said agency, employment, partnership, and joint venture, conspiracy or enterprise, and with the express and/or implied permission, knowledge, consent, authorization and ratification of their codefendants; however, each of these allegations are deemed "alternative" theories whenever not doing so would result in a contraction with the other allegations. CLASS ALLEGATIONS 36. Plaintiff brings this action pursuant to Rule 23(b)(2) and (b)(3) of the

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, on behalf of himself and a class defined as follows: All persons or entities in the United States who downloaded a Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer game. Excluded from the class is defendant, any entity in which defendant has a controlling interest or which has a controlling interest
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in defendant, and defendant's legal representatives, predecessors, successors, assigns, and employees. Also excluded from the class are the judge and staff to whom this case is assigned, and any member of the judge's immediate family. 37. Plaintiff reserves the right to revise this definition of the class based

on facts he learns during discovery. 38. Plaintiff is a member of the class that he seeks to represent. Members

of the class can be identified because they will have downloaded a copy of the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer game onto their computer. Class members can be notified of the class action through publication and direct mailings to address lists maintained in the usual course of business by defendant. 39. Numerosity: Class members are so numerous that their individual

joinder is impracticable. It is estimated that the Class consists of tens of thousands of members. The precise number of class members is unknown to plaintiff, but it is clear that the number greatly exceeds the number to make joinder impossible. 40. Existence and predominance of common questions: Common

questions of law and fact predominate over the questions affecting only individual class members. Some of the common legal and factual questions include: a. Whether EA fails to disclose the presence of an additional

program with the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition
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download; b. Whether EA should have separately disclosed the presence of

an additional DRM program with the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition download, and the extent and nature of that program; c. Whether defendant should have disclosed, and is liable for its

failure to disclose the SecuROM program, the precise details and nature of the program, where and how it would install, and how it would operate, prior to any download of the program; d. Whether defendant should have disclosed, and is liable for its

failure to disclose, the SecuROM program, the precise details and nature of the program, where and how it would install, and how it would operate, prior to any installation of the program; e. Whether defendant should have obtained informed consent

from the user, prior to the installation of the SecuROM program; f. Whether defendant concealed crucial details concerning the

presence operation, function, and unremovability of the SecuROM DRM program to the class and the public; g. Whether defendant's actions in concealing crucial details

concerning the presence, operation, function, and unremovability of the SecuROM DRM program were likely to deceive the public;
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h.

Whether defendant made representations that the Spore

Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer game had characteristics, uses, benefits, or qualities which it did not have; i. Whether, by its conduct, defendant has engaged in unfair or

unlawful business practices with respect to the advertising, marketing, and distribution of the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer game; j. Whether, by its conduct, defendant has engaged in unfair,

deceptive, untrue, or misleading advertising of the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer game; k. Whether defendant violated consumer protection statutes and/or

state deceptive business practices statutes; l. Whether, by its conduct, defendant has trespassed on the

computers of all persons who installed the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer game; m. Whether California law applies to all claims and claimants in

this action; and n. The nature and extent of damages and other remedies to which

the conduct of defendant entitles the class members. 41. Defendant engaged in a common course of conduct giving rise to the
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legal rights sought to be enforced by the class members. Similar or identical statutory and common law violations, deceptive business practices, and omissions regarding the product are involved. Individual questions, if any, pale by comparison to the numerous common questions that predominate. 42. The injuries sustained by the class members flow, in each instance,

from a common nucleus of operative facts. In each case, defendant designed, created, supplied, distributed, marketed, and/or offered for download the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer game containing a second, undisclosed computer program. 43. Class members have been damaged by defendant's misconduct. Class

members have downloaded the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer games containing an extra, undisclosed program that secretly installed onto their computers, without notice or opportunity for consent. Class members would not have downloaded the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer game had they known the truth about the product. 44. Typicality: Plaintiff's claims are typical of the claims of the other

proposed class members. Plaintiff downloaded a Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer game designed and created by defendant which contained an undisclosed, secret, separately installed, stand alone, unremovable DRM program which would install itself to the command and control center of the computer and
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oversee function and operation on the computer, preventing certain user actions, preventing certain user programs from operating, or disrupting hardware operations. 45. Adequacy: Plaintiff will fairly and adequately protect the interests of

the class. Plaintiff is familiar with the basic facts that form the bases of the proposed class members' claims. Plaintiff's interests do not conflict with the interests of the other class members that he seeks to represent. Plaintiff has retained counsel competent and experienced in class action litigation who will prosecute this action vigorously. Plaintiff's counsel have successfully prosecuted complex actions including consumer protection class actions. Plaintiff and plaintiff's counsel will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class members. 46. Superiority: The class action device is superior to other available

means for the fair and efficient adjudication of the claims of plaintiff and the proposed class members. The relief sought per individual member of the class is small given the burden and expense of individual prosecution of the potentially extensive litigation necessitated by the conduct of defendant. Furthermore, it would be virtually impossible for the class members to seek redress on an individual basis. Even if the class members themselves could afford such individual litigation, the court system could not.
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47.

Individual litigation of the legal and factual issues raised by the

conduct of defendant would increase delay and expense to all parties and to the court system. The class action device presents far fewer management difficulties and provides the benefits of a single, uniform adjudication, economies of scale and comprehensive supervision by a single court. 48. Given the similar nature of the class members' claims and the absence

of material differences in the state statutes and common laws upon which the class members' claims are based, a nationwide class will be easily managed by the Court and the parties. 49. The court may be requested to also incorporate subclasses of

plaintiffs, defendants, or both, in the interest of justice and judicial economy. 50. In the alternative, the class may be certified because: a. the prosecution of separate actions by the individual members

of the class would create a risk of inconsistent or varying adjudication with respect to individual class members which would establish incompatible standards of conduct by defendant; b. the prosecution of separate actions by individual class members

would create a risk of adjudications with respect to them which would, as a practical matter, be dispositive of the interests of other class members not parties to the adjudications, or substantially impair
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or impede their ability to protect their interests; and c. defendant has acted or refused to act on grounds generally

applicable to the class, thereby making appropriate final and injunctive relief with respect to the members of the class as a whole. FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION (Violations of Consumer Legal Remedies Act, Civil Code §§ 1750, et seq.) 51. Plaintiff hereby incorporates by reference the allegations contained in

all preceding paragraphs of this complaint. 52. The California Consumer Legal Remedies Act ("CLRA") applies to

defendant's actions and conduct described herein because it extends to transactions that are intended to result, or which have resulted, in the sale of goods to consumers. Plaintiff and the members of the class are consumers who seek, by purchase or lease, goods or services for personal, family, or household purposes, and are "consumers" under Civil Code section 1761(d). 53. EA's offer of download and a user's implementation and acceptaibce

of that download of the Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer game constitute a "Transaction" within the meaning of Civil Code section 1761(e). 54. Defendant has violated the CLRA in at least the following respects: a. In violation of Section 1770(a)(14), defendant has represented that the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer game confers
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or involves rights, remedies, or obligations which it does not have or involve, or which are prohibited by law. 55. Defendant concealed material facts regarding the Spore Creature

Creator Free Trial Edition computer games from plaintiff and the members of the class, including the fact that the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer games contained an undisclosed, secret, separately installed, stand alone, unremovable DRM program which would install itself to the command and control center of the computer and oversee function and operation on the computer, preventing certain user actions, preventing certain user programs from operating, or disrupting hardware operations. Had defendant disclosed such information, it would have been made known to plaintiff and members of the class through the marketing and advertising presented to plaintiff and members of the class by defendant, retailers, resellers, the trade press, and others. 56. Defendant's failure to disclose the truth about Spore Creature Creator

Free Trial Edition's companion DRM program, and defendant's conscious concealment of that fact, are unfair, misleading, and deceptive trade practices under the provisions of the CLRA, Civil Code § 1770 (a)(14). 57. Defendant's deceptive acts and omissions occurred in the course of a

transaction intended to result in a sale or lease of goods or services to consumers. 58. Plaintiff and the members of the class relied upon defendant to
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provide them with full and complete disclosure regarding the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition download and all of its contents prior to installation of the programs within the download. Defendant intentionally failed to inform plaintiff and the members of the class of the full contents of the download to their detriment. Plaintiff and the members of the class have all been directly and proximately injured by defendant's conduct, and such injury includes the download of the SecuROM DRM program which they would not have downloaded had they been truthfully and fully informed of material facts concerning the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition download. 59. In accordance with Civil Code § 1780 (a), plaintiff and members of

the Class seek injunctive and equitable relief as to defendant's violations of the CLRA; however, in accordance with Civil Code § 1782(a) & (d), plaintiff will subsequently amend this Class Action Complaint to include a request for damages. SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION (Trespass to Chattels, Nuisance and Interference With Use of Property) 60. Plaintiff hereby incorporates by reference the allegations contained in

all preceding paragraphs of this complaint. 63. Plaintiff and members of the class, at all times relevant to this action,

were the owners and/or possessors of computers. 64. Plaintiff and members of the class are informed and believe that,
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beginning in June 2008, Electronic Arts, without Plaintiff's and class members' consent, or in excess of any consent given, knowingly and intentionally accessed Plaintiff's and class members' property, thereby intermeddling with Plaintiff's and class members' right to possession of the property and causing injury to Plaintiff and the members of the class. 65. Electronic Arts engaged in deception and concealment in order to gain

access to the computers of class members to install its SecuROM DRM Program. 66. Electronic Arts undertook the following actions with respect to each

class member's computer: a. Electronic Arts accessed and obtained command control over the user's computer during the installation process; b. Electronic Arts caused the installation of a new program onto the hard drive of the user's computer; c. Electronic Arts programmed the installation to make changes and additions to the registry (the command center and heart of computer operations) of the user's computer. d. Electronic Arts programmed the operation of its SecuROM program to function and operate without notice or consent on the part of the owner of the computer, and completely outside of the control of the owner of the computer.
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67.

All these acts described above were acts in excess of any authority

any user granted when he or she permitted Electronic Arts entry into their computers for purposes of installing the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer game, since none of these acts was in furtherance of installing the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer game. By engaging in deception and misrepresentation, whatever authority or permission users may have granted to Electronic Arts for purposes of installing the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer game was vitiated. 68. Electronic Arts' installation and operation of its SecuROM program

used, interfered, and/or intermeddled with Plaintiff's and Class members' computer systems. Such use, interference and/or intermeddling was without Class members' consent or, in the alternative, in excess of Plaintiff's and Class members' consent. 69. Electronic Arts' installation and operation of its SecuROM program

constitutes trespass, nuisance, and an interference with Class members' chattels, to wit, their computers. 70. Electronic Arts' installation and operation of its SecuROM program

impaired the condition and value of Class members' computers. 71. Electronic Arts' trespass to chattels, nuisance, and interference caused

real and substantial damage to Plaintiff and the other Class members. 72. As a direct and proximate result of Electronic Arts' trespass to
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chattels, nuisance, interference, unauthorized access of and intermeddling with Plaintiff's and Class members' property, Plaintiff and Class members have been injured and impaired in the condition and value of Class members' computers, as follows: e. By consuming the resources of and/or degrading the performance of Class members' computers (including hard drive space, memory, processing cycles, and Internet connectivity); f. By diminishing the use of, value, speed, capacity, and/or capabilities of Class members computers; g. By devaluing, interfering with, and/or diminishing Class members' possessory interest in their computers; h. By altering and controlling the functioning of Class members' computers; i. By infringing on Class members' right to exclude others from their computers; j. By infringing on Class members' right to determine, as owners of their computers, which programs should be installed and operating on their computers; k. By tying Class members' right to utilize the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer game upon the undisclosed,
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uninformed, secret installation of a second program; l. By compromising the integrity, security, and ownership of class members' computers because the SecuROM program can be used by Electronic Arts or others to remotely control, reduce, or alter the functioning of class members' computer programs; and m. By forcing consumers to expend money, time, and resources in order to effectuate the removal of the SecuROM program installed on the computers of Class members without notice or consent. 73. Plaintiff, on behalf of himself and the Class, seeks injunctive relief

restraining Electronic Arts from trespass to chattels, to provide an easy-to-use uninstall tool for the SecuROM program, and damages. THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION (Violations of Unfair Competition Law, Business & Professions Code §§ 17200, et seq.) 90. Plaintiff hereby incorporates by reference the allegations contained in

all preceding paragraphs of this complaint. 91. Plaintiff brings this cause of action on behalf of himself, the class, and

in his capacity as a private attorney general. 92. Defendant's actions, as complained of herein, constitute unfair,

deceptive, and/or unlawful practices committed in violation of the Unfair Competition Law, Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17200 et seq.
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93.

Defendants violated the "fraudulent" prong of § 17200, the "unfair"

prong of § 17200, and the "unlawful" prong of § 17200 by the conduct alleged herein. Defendant's acts and practices have and/or are likely to deceive members of the consuming public. 94. All of the conduct alleged herein occurred in the course of defendant's

business. Defendant's wrongful conduct was part of a pattern or generalized course of conduct repeated on thousands of occasions. 95. Plaintiff and members of the class suffered injury in fact and lost

money or property as a result of defendant's conduct because they would not have downloaded the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition computer game had they known the true nature of all of the products in the download. 96. Plaintiff, on behalf of himself and each member of the class, seeks

individual restitution, injunctive relief, and other relief allowed under section 17200, et seq. PRAYER FOR RELIEF WHEREFORE, plaintiff and the proposed class members request that the Court enter an order or judgment against defendant including the following: 1. Certification of the action as a class action pursuant to Rule

23(b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure with respect to plaintiff's claims for injunctive relief, and Rule 23(b)(3) of the
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Federal Rules of Civil Procedure with respect to the claims for damages, and appointment of plaintiff as class representative and his counsel of record as class counsel; 2. Damages in the amount of monies either paid or needed to pay

in order to fully and completely remove SecuROM from the computers of class members (for purposes of clarity, Plaintiff expressly disclaims damages pursuant to the CLRA at this time); 3. Actual damages, statutory damages, punitive or treble damages,

and such other relief as provided by the statutes cited herein (for purposes of clarity, Plaintiff expressly disclaims damages pursuant to the CLRA at this time); 4. proof; 5. Equitable relief in the form of restitution and/or disgorgement For pre-judgment and post judgment interest according to

of all unlawful or illegal profits received by defendant as a result of the unfair, unlawful and/or deceptive conduct alleged in herein; 6. 7. Other appropriate injunctive relief; The costs of bringing this suit, including reasonable attorneys'

fees; and 8. All other relief to which plaintiff and members of the proposed
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