![\"Pokemon](\"https:\/\/junkee.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/PokemonGo.jpg\")
Image source: https:\/\/junkee.com\/pokemon-go-still-thriving\/196317<\/p>\nBy: Monica Molouf<\/p>\n
Image source: https:\/\/junkee.com\/pokemon-go-still-thriving\/196317<\/p>\n
Pok\u00e9mon Go experienced a recent financial setback[1]<\/a> due to a class action settlement in California federal court.\u00a0 In settling trespass and nuisance charges, the court ordered the company behind Pok\u00e9mon Go to pay four million dollars in attorney\u2019s fees and one thousand dollars to each individual plaintiff. [2]<\/a> \u00a0Additionally, the court ordered the company to urge individuals to refrain from acts of trespass while using the app.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n This comes after numerous complaints that the app encourages trespass on private property.[4]<\/a> \u00a0In their complaint for In re Pok\u00e9mon Go<\/em>, plaintiffs claimed Pok\u00e9mon Go should be held responsible for \u201cprofiting from a game that encourages users to illegally wander onto private property.\u201d[5]<\/a>\u00a0 Defendants argued that they were not responsible for individual user\u2019s actions, but the federal court disagreed.<\/p>\n The sell for downloading the smartphone app is that \u201cthe world of Pok\u00e9mon is all around you.\u201d[6]<\/a> \u00a0Meaning if you look through the proper lens\u2014say, an app on my smartphone\u2014you, too, could be Ash[7]<\/a> and capture Pok\u00e9mon as a trainer.<\/p>\n There\u2019s something exciting about integrating a fantasy world into everyday life via virtual reality.\u00a0 As the world\u2019s \u201cleading augmented reality\u201d software company,[8]<\/a> Niantic Inc. has capitalized on this excitement through Pok\u00e9mon Go.\u00a0 The app combines the fictional world originally experienced through trading cards and television shows with the real world, creating a quasi-virtual reality where Pok\u00e9mon wander the earth.[9]<\/a>\u00a0 As pointed out in a response filed by plaintiffs, \u201c[t]his innovative blending of physical and virtual worlds is the defining feature of Pok\u00e9mon Go and the key to its popularity. Niantic emphasizes this heavily in its advertising, encouraging players to search far and wide to capture Pok\u00e9mon and advance in the game.\u201d[10]<\/a><\/p>\n The promotional video for Pok\u00e9mon Go depicts 3D cartoons of the famous creatures roaming real cities, forests, and other exciting terrains.[11]<\/a>\u00a0 These are ambiguous spaces\u2014never a distinct place in a familiar city, a backyard, or even a local park.\u00a0 The video portrays beautiful scenery to match the fantastical virtual reality.\u00a0 While moving through these frames, a disclaimer subtly flashes across the screen,[12]<\/a>\u00a0 urging users to be careful and remain aware of their surroundings.[13]<\/a>\u00a0 And while it promotes players to see Pok\u00e9mon wherever they go, the app fails to show the full scope of where these creatures roam, and where users should not.\u00a0 This is particularly interesting after the aforementioned settlement reached in August of this year.<\/p>\n Neither the video nor the Apple App Store description of includes any disclaimer or clause to encourage users against trespassing private property.\u00a0 While the settlement is still fresh, it would behoove Pok\u00e9mon Go to include such a disclaimer. And fast.\u00a0 Clearly, Niantic, Inc. is not forcing users to enter onto personal property.\u00a0 Those who download the app seem to use at their own initiative\u2026and their own risk.\u00a0 But there is something to be said about creating an app that entices strangers to trespass on private property in pursuit of a virtual creature.<\/p>\n As a child of the 90s, I understand the temptation to open an app on my smartphone and tramps around my neighborhood in search of Pikachu.\u00a0 The temptation to become a Pok\u00e9mon trainer for a short while.\u00a0 However, inspiring individuals to intrude on private property brings up real public policy concerns.<\/p>\n Despite the settlement litigation, Pok\u00e9mon Go seems to be increasing in popularity.\u00a0 Just this month I\u2019ve seen packs of individuals zig-zagging the streets in my neighborhood, trying to catch them all.\u00a0 And while the settlement struck the company financially, it seems Niantic, Inc. will continue to push the seal as an augmented reality pioneer and millennials will continue to revel in nostalgia.\u00a0 Public policy and privacy rights may be of substantial\u00a0 social interest, but so it seems is reliving one\u2019s childhood.<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> See generally<\/em>, Paul Tassi, ‘Pok\u00e9mon GO’ Has Made $1.8 Billion As It Turns Two Years Old<\/em>, Forbes (Jul. 9, 2018, 9:38 AM) https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/insertcoin\/2018\/07\/09\/pokemon-go-has-made-1-8-billion-as-it-turns-two-years-old\/#283e74094655 (illustrating that the company racked in almost two billion dollars in revenue in its first two years).<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Hannah Albarazi, Pok\u00e9mon Go Nuisance Deal Netz Pomerantz $4M In Atty Fees<\/em>, Law360 (Aug. 22, 2019, 5:51 PM) https:\/\/www.law360.com\/articles\/1191631.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> See id.<\/em><\/p>\n [4]<\/a> See<\/em> Allison Grande<\/a>, <\/em><\/strong>Pok\u00e9mon Go Responsible for Individual Players\u2019 Actions and Had Done Nothing Wrong<\/em>, Law360 (Jan. 30, 2017, 7:57 PM) https:\/\/www.law360.com\/articles\/886257?copied=1.<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> See<\/em> id.<\/em>; see also<\/em> Allison Grande, ‘Pok\u00e9mon Go’ Maker Encouraged Trespassing, Court Told<\/em>, Law360 (Mar. 3, 2017, 8:06 PM) https:\/\/www.law360.com\/articles\/898098 (referencing the previous article and summarizing the case).<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> Amazing Creatures Have Been Discovered Across the Planet!<\/em>, YouTube (Feb. 1, 2018) https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=eMobkagZu64.<\/p>\n [7]<\/a> Ash is the main character and trainer in the anime television series, Pok\u00e9mon<\/em>.\u00a0 Ash Ketchum<\/em>, Bulbapedia (last visited Sept. 12, 2019) https:\/\/bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net\/wiki\/Ash_Ketchum.<\/p>\n [8]<\/a> About<\/em>: A History of Viewing the World Differently<\/em>, Niantic (last visited Sept. 12, 2019) https:\/\/nianticlabs.com\/about\/.<\/p>\n [9]<\/a> Explained: What is Pok\u00e9mon Go?<\/em>, WebWise (last visited Sept. 12, 2019) https:\/\/www.webwise.ie\/parents\/pokemon-go\/.<\/p>\n [10]<\/a> Plaintiff\u2019s Opposition to Defendant\u2019s Motion to Dismiss, at 21\u201323, In Re Pok\u00e9mon Go Nuisance Litigation<\/em> (N.D. Cal. 2017) (No. 3:16-cv-04300-JD).<\/p>\n [11]<\/a> Supra<\/em>, note 5.<\/em><\/p>\n