Ratchet said:
This might sound stupid (already I'm regretting posting it)...
... does Futuremark have any legal basis available to protect their business from such tactics?
You're hinting at Futuremark going to court with nvidia because they "cheated"? Highly unlikely, even if there was a big chance of winning the case.
Patric Ojala, 3DMark producer, posted in the developer section that the patch released by Futuremark was not an anti-nvidia move. You should really see it as an anti-cheat move. It just happened to be nvidia that was cheating all over the place, but it could've been another company as well (seeing as ati got caught too, albeit on a much smaller scale).
Going into a legal fight with nvidia wouldn't be a smart thing to do, IMHO. It would end up doing more harm than good: it would cost alot for Futuremark, it would be seen as an anti-nvidia move (which is exactly what nvidia claims about the patch, so it would only gain support then), etc.
To be honest, I think a lot of companies wouldn't even dare to release such a patch in the given circumstances (there already was a lot of pressure from nvidia). Luckily Futuremark showed us that not one company can play god over them.
BTW, I'm still waiting for the official nvidia response concerning this matter. All we have so far is the "anonymous employee"
