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Niantic faces a class action lawsuit for encouraging trespassing on private property:
When Niantic released Pokemon Go, it randomly placed Pokémon, Pokéstops and Pokémon Gyms all over the world. Players of the game wander the real world and use smartphones to capture Pokemon, buy items and fight Pokemon Gym leaders.
"To create that immersive world, Niantic made unauthorized use of Plaintiff's and other Class members' property by placing Pokéstops and Pokémon gyms thereupon or nearby," said Jennifer Pafiti in the lawsuit. "In so doing, Niantic has encouraged Pokémon Go's millions of players to make unwanted incursions onto the properties of plaintiff, and other members of the class, a clear and ongoing invasion of their use and enjoyment of their land from which defendants have profited and continue to profit."
Due to the randomized placement of the Pokémon, Pokéstops and Pokémon Gyms, they have turned up in some unwanted locations such as in houses, cemeteries and museums. According to Jeffrey Marder, a man living in New Jersey, he received at least five unwelcome visitors that wanted access to his backyard to catch Pokémon within the first week of the game's launch.
"Plaintiff and other Class members have all suffered and will continue to suffer harm and damages as a result of Defendants' unlawful and wrongful conduct. A class action is superior to other available methods for the fair and efficient adjudication of this controversy," said Pafiti.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by mcgrew on Wednesday August 03 2016, @05:28PM
You've never noticed how incredibly stupid the average human ape is? This is actually a re-run of something that happened in St Louis in 1962.
A pop radio station, WIL (east side of the river, west of the river the call letters start with K) ran a contest where something like a thousand dollars (that would be about $10,000 in today's money) was supposed to be buried in the St Louis area and they gave hints over the air as a way to build listenership; their rival KXOK was much more popular.
People were digging holes in Forest Park, on golf courses, schoolyards, private homes' yards. It was a serious clusterfuck, even worse than the Pokemon thing today. There wasn't just trespass, but vandalism. Digging holes in your neighbor's yard is vandalism, after all.
When it was found that the contest was really a hoax perpetrated by station management and there was really no buried treasure, the FCC yanked their license. WIL was dark for a few years and came back under new ownership as a country music station.
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