Nonetheless, the CDA does not cover claims of criminal conduct, electronic communications privacy and intellectual property infringement.

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Electronic Arts' EA Sports is a valuable property in large measure because EA spends money getting rights to other names, like John Madden and NASCAR.

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"We're not talking about something that is a dedicated piracy tool, " said Fred von Lohmann, senior intellectual property attorney at the civil liberties group, Electronic Frontier Foundation.

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Bill Porter who took options onto an electronic exchange, the ISE, and the law firms which protect the intellectual property that make innovative financial firms profitable.

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