Blizzard Squeezes $88 Million From Private Server Owner

[Chipperz]

they already have enough money to buy saturn and all of its moons why did they do it

Because she was doing something illegal? This whole thing is the ultimate in shock and awe tactics - utterly obliterate one and watch as others start to give way. Blizzard probably don't care about most Private Servers, but if they can stop a few that were profiting from their product, it'll have been worthwhile. I feel it's also important to note that Blizzard is NOT a charity, and don't have to put up with having their stuff stolen.

 

[Jake the Snake]

They wanted to make an example out of her. And frankly, it serves her right because she was making money off of somebody else's IP. She's nothing more than a filthy pirate.

 

[Upbeat Zombie]

85 million in statutory damages.. Now that just seems like unnecessary overkill.

 

[Baldry]

Damn the empire Blizzard strike again, destroying the rebel scum.


I mean random deity damn that's bad...I don't think i've ever thought of a number that big

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

The only way she can possibly repay that debt is infiltrate Blizzard's ranks and climb to the top. Either that or start a private server for ToR, hehe.

 

[mad825]

Why don't you read the first page and notice that the part that says I quoted from you you DID NOT say. I had you and like 3 other people quoted but THAT part that I did quote was what I was actually responding to.

Don't jump to conclusions because THAT is childish.

what? can you make this paragraph make more sense?
regardless, you made my quote look like that its was my opinion thus don't edit a quote to fit your agenda. it's rude and childish

Also to go back on to the 85 million dollar fine. If they fined her something like 250k or something like that along with everything else and she was able to pay it back easily she would probably think that she could get away with it again. The 85 million dollar fine is to

Personally I think that she is VERY VERY lucky she was not hit with a much larger fine.

the 85m is based on "If's and buts" there is no solid evidence that 85m worth of damage had been committed against the company .
making her financially ruined doesn't necessarily teach one a lesson even so it's not her who is going to be paying the 85m at the end of the day, it will be the government if not then her life

 

[Sougo]

Amazing .... her grandchildrens' grandchildren will still be paying that debt.

 

[dghjdgdjf]

She's just going to file for bankruptcy, nothing else to it. Blizzard is doing exactly the same thing as every other major company out there. The only reason this is getting highlighted is because it's Blizzard doing it. Hell, J.K Rowling is among the 100 most wealthy people in the world, still she protects her IP and her franchise.

It's not about greed, it's THEIR product.

 

[thirdsonsaburo]

That's a ridiculous overreaction, even if they were trying to "make an example" of one person.

And anyway, what the hell is Blizzard going to even do with that amount of money? It's not like they're a company that needs it. At all. As Vhite said, it's just a tiny fraction of their gigantic, swollen, Scrooge McDuck-esque money pile.

Private servers are illegal, yes, but reacting to them like that is just going to villify Blizzard.

 

[Blatherscythe]

This whole lawsuit seems aggressively unnecessary. One would think they could just issue a C&D and call it a day, instead of ruining someone's entire financial future over a, to be frank, irrelevant issue.

This lady took their product, copied it and started to make money off of it through microtransactions (buying armor, weapons and stuff with real money). It's Blizzards product, she stole it and used it without permission, they have every right to sue the pants off anyone who robs them. They took into account how many players switched to her private server and how much lost income it was, Blizzard makes billions of dollars off of WoW, she wanted a piece of it for free and is paying the price for it.

 

[AugustFall]

Well that person's life is ruined, I understand that what they were doing is illegal. Yeah I dunno where I stand on this. Seems very harsh though.

 

[AcacianLeaves]

O.J. Simpson had to pay $33.5 million when he was held liable for the deaths of Ronald Goldman and Nicole Brown. Blizzard is claiming that emulating their toy is worth almost three times more than the lives of two human beings. This seems slightly askew.

 

[Jaded Scribe]

I'm happy Blizzard brought the smack down. It's not about money-grubbing on their part, it's about sending a clear message that piracy and private servers are illegal and you will be punished for it.

I see too many people who think these activities are ok, or at the least that they won't get in trouble. I applaud sending a message making it clear that these things are not ok.

As for the $85 million, yes, it seems a little harsh. But I'm sure she was given a C&D first, and after that the number was based largely off the profit her company made from their product, with a good slathering on top of that to ensure she was shut down entirely.

 

[Jaded Scribe]

Fro all those dumb fanboys who swore up and down Blizzard was not like Activision, out to get every penny they could, how's that smell?

Just fine. You can call it money-grubbing if you want. I call it sending a clear message that these activities are wrong, and you better cut it out. I doubt they're doing this just for the money, and the amount is meant to be a statement to the pirating and private server conmen.

 

[ThreeKneeNick]

She made $3 million eh? I didn't think running a private server could be that profitable. Id really like to know what she was charging for. Usually private servers ask for donations and give you items in return, but don't outright charge for stuff. Did she do that? Maybe that's why they went after her.

I don't think anyone is looking at damages here, obviously people that played on that private server didn't mind paying to have fun, but if money isn't the issue, the only conclusion i can reach is that they have a problem with paying directly to Blizzard, which means the company would never have seen any that money, private server or not. What this really is for Blizzard is conjuring money out of nothing. But i have to do more research on this.

 

[pretentiousname01]

I'm surprised she didn't get hired to start a new micro-transaction section of wow.

 

[Vuirneen]

Blizzard may have been awarded 88 million, but if the company doesn't have enough cash to pay it off, they won't.

What'll happen is that Blizzard will get them to sell their servers, hardware and any assets of the company, and/or come to an arrangement with the defendant for a smaller amount.

She will then start (at some point, if she's not agreed to pay X amount a week/month/year), with a blank slate.

Or she could pay off as much as she can and declare bankruptcy, then start again.