Supreme Court confirm the original verdict that former Lineage3 Development Team members’ suspicion of leaking Lineage3 Trade secret on the 16th of April. The suit was leaded by the prosecution not by NCSoft.
The prosecution appealed against the decision of the court of first instance that some are acquitted in June, 2009. High Court judged them guilty again and some of them received tougher punishment than the court of first instance.
Supreme Court only confirms the case is guilty or not. The former head of department was sentenced to one and half year in prison with 2 years of probation. The former team manager of development was found not guilty at the court of first instance, but sentenced 8 months in prison with 2 years of probation at High Court. Some of team members was fined US$6,100~8,800.
A person from NCSoft said “Leaking trade secret is the important issue of life or death to the company. The judgment from Supreme Court could establish a good precedent to people who work at IT companies where resignation and changing jobs are common depends on the success of the project.”
Beside of the prosecution’s suit, the civil case for damages leaded by NCSoft is waited for the court’s ruling. NCSoft claim damages of US 5.7 million against Bluehole Studios, the developer of TERA. NCsoft won the original trial, but Bluehole Studio won the second trial.
En Masse Entertainment kicked off MMORPG <TERA>’s pre-order in North America since February 1.
