Tag: accusations
Dark And Darker removed from Steam following accusations of stolen trade secrets
You might have heard of Dark And Darker, a dungeon-crawling take on Escape From Tarkov’s PvPvE that’s been gaining popularity over the last few months. Alice0 enjoyed its alpha playtest last December, and it ended up becoming one of the most popular games of February’s Steam Next Fest. It wasn’t due to launch in full until sometime this winter, but that window’s now up in the air after Dark And Darker was removed from Steam over the weekend, following a messy legal dispute between Nexon and developers Ironmace, who have been accused of “using trade secrets and copyrighted information,” allegedly stolen from Nexon.
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Dark and Darker devs raided by police following accusations of stolen assets
According to Korean news outlet Korea JoongAng Daily, Dark and Darker developer Ironmace has been raided by police following accusations of asset theft by industry giant Nexon.
This raid reportedly happened at the Ironmace development office in Seongnam, and lead to local police seizing material related to the game. There has been no official word yet from Ironmace on these events.
This battle between Nexon and Ironmace has its roots all the way back in 2021, when the Korean industry giant accused a now-member of the Ironmace developer team (referred to as Leader A) of leaking assets for a project dubbed P3. They were later fired in July 2021 for leaking P3 data, before joining the Ironmace team.
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Apple will audit its labor practices in the US after union-busting accusations
Apple has agreed to review its labor practices in the US after regulators and employees accused the company of union busting. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission ahead of its annual shareholders meeting, Apple said it would carry out an assessment of its “efforts to comply with its Human Rights Policy as it relates to workers’ freedom of association and collective bargaining rights in the United States by the end of calendar year 2023.”
The company will bring in a third-party firm to conduct the audit, according to The New York Times. A group of investors, including five New York City public worker pension funds, that controls around $7 billion worth of Apple stock called for the assessment in a September shareholder proposal. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who started talks with Apple on behalf of the city pension funds, told the Times that Apple agreed to the audit if the investors withdrew the proposal.
“Workers organizing at Apple for a collective voice in their workplace have reported strong pushback from the company — that flies in the face of Apple’s stated human rights commitment to workers’ freedom of association,” Lander said in a statement. “I’m grateful to Apple’s board of directors for listening to the concerns of shareholders regarding worker rights and hope the company will heed the findings of the third-party assessment and take concrete steps to adopt a genuine commitment to non-interference that respects the rights of its workers.”
In a letter to Apple chairman Arthur Levinson, the investor group urged Apple to hire a firm with expertise in labor (and that has not advised clients on how to prevent workforces from unionizing) to carry out the review. The investors also brought Microsoft’s neutral stance on labor organizing to Levinson’s attention and urged Apple to include its global supply chain and non-US operations as part of the audit.
“Apple has made commitments to worker rights globally as well as in its supply chain, and while much of the current organizing activity has occurred in the US, there are Apple worker organizing efforts occurring around the world, including in Australia and the UK,” they wrote. “Addressing these topics at a global level can add credibility to the assessment and address other potential areas of concern proactively and efficiently.”
News of the assessment comes amid talks between Apple and unionized workers at a store in Towson, Maryland over their first union contract. Workers in at least a half-dozen stores have accused Apple of violating labor laws, claiming that the company has clamped down on attempts to organize. The Communications Workers of America, which represents a collective of Apple Store workers in Oklahoma City, said in a National Labor Relations Board filing that the company set up an illegal union controlled by management at a store in Columbus, Ohio to thwart support for an independent employee union.
“While a credible, independent assessment by individuals or organizations with the appropriate expertise on workers’ freedom of association could uncover important information about Apple’s response to worker organizing, including its use of union busting consultants, workers need concrete solutions now. Apple must commit to a true policy of neutrality toward union organizing efforts,” the Communications Workers of America told Engadget in a statement. “Apple’s workers deserve respect and a voice on the job, not just another self-congratulatory exercise in corporate image management. We support investor advocates’ efforts to ensure this is a credible audit.”
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Fired Disco Elysium creators trade accusations with new ZA/UM owners
Two of the principal creators of Disco Elysium have published a statement accusing the new owners of developer Studio ZA/UM of taking over the company by fraud, saying that they are now exploring legal options. Those new owners have, for their part, said that these creators were fired last year for refusing to discharge their work responsibilities and for creating a toxic work environment at the troubled RPG game studio.
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