321 Studios Considers Bankruptcy

A company official from 321 Studios Inc., which manufactures software used to copy DVDs and games, said it will decide in a matter of weeks whether to file for bankruptcy protection. Yesterday, Entertainment Arts, Vivendi Universal Games, and Atari filed a lawsuit against 321 Studios because its product violates the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The software circumvents technology embedded in games designed to thwart copying, and hence, protect them from piracy. The Missouri-based company has been slammed with lawsuits in the last 12 months, and the number of employees has shriveled from 400 to about two dozen in about three months as a result.