Facebook, Oculus to pay $500 million to ZeniMax

Facebook, Oculus to pay $500 million to ZeniMax

Question: Oculus is a … of Facebook.
(a) subsidiary
(b) owner
(c) partner
(d) None of the above.
Ans: (a)

  • On 1st February, 2017, a U.S. jury in Texas ordered Facebook Inc, its virtual reality unit Oculus, and other defendants to pay a combined $500 million to ZeniMax Media Inc.
  • ZeniMax Media Inc is a video game publisher that had claimed that Oculus stole its technology.
  • Facebook acquired Oculus for about $2 billion in 2014.
  • The jury in federal court in Dallas found Oculus used ZeniMax’s computer code to launch the Rift virtual-reality headset.
  • ZeniMax alleges that video game designer John Carmack developed core parts of the Rift’s technology while working at a ZeniMax subsidiary.
  • Though the jury ruled that none of the defendants misappropriated ZeniMax’s trade secrets, it found Oculus’ use of computer code directly violated ZeniMax’s copyright.

Reference:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-lawsuit-idUSKBN15G5N6
http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/facebooks-oculus-facing-500-million-bill-in-copyright-case-4503625/