This vagueness makes copyright claims into the ideal weapon for "rightsholders" like Atari. Copyright claims are also a bonanza for specialist lawyers, as they get paid either way the judgement turns out.
Put it differently: everyone is a rightsholder. Imagine an hypothetical HN story about a California-based indie developer who witnesses his iOS game ripped off and cloned to the point of consumer confusion by Chinese development workshops as soon as he has a little bit of success. I may assume that the HN consensus would be that Apple shouldn't force him to go to court before removing the offending copycats from the app store, and that Apple would not be removing them quickly enough.
Justice is not about rooting for the guy that most resembles you.
"[Atari] thanks to their special relationship with Apple"
Of course. Apple is famous for how well it gets along with every other hardware- or software-making companies.
Atari claims the game is so nearly identical as to invoke copyright infringement. Atari is biased, but so is Vector Tanks' developer. I haven't seen the game, so I can't judge, but here is what one random review says:
"[...] Battlezone.
Yes, Atari's first-person, vector-based tank shooter all wrapped up in a wonderfully imposing up-right cabinet. Battlezone. I feel like it's part of my DNA.
And so does Retro Overlord Peter Hirschberg. This is why Battlezone is proudly represented in his amazing Luna City Arcade located in Northern Virginia.
Now, one would think that a man with such a magical cave of retro delight in which to daily dwell would be satisfied with the arcade goodness found within. But not Peter. Peter got greedy. He wanted the goodness of Battlezone in his pocket--with him at all times. What's more, he has attempted to one-up the legendary green-and-black tank shooter and inject a bit of modern vitality into the tried and true formula.
Well, there was no stopping him. Peter Hirschberg has just released Vector Tanks [App Store] for the iPhone and iPod touch through the iTunes App Store (published by Chillingo).
Vector Tanks feels like Battlezone 2.0. It's a first-person 3D tank shooter with a vector-based battlefield display akin to the classic we know so well, but [...]"
This is a review of Vector Tanks, in case you were confused by the 4 mentions of Battlezone.
Well, I would still have to see both games, but it doesn't seem as clear-cut to me as the title of this HN entry implies.